The Uncertain Future
by Commissar Gaunt
Summary: AU: What happens when the Military takes an interest in the Negaverse? A chain of events quickly spiral out of control, forcing the U.S. and Japanese Governments to take over the fight against Queen Beryl with tragic consequences.
1. The Proper Application of Force

The Proper Application of Force

Captain Carlton Meyer USMC sighed as he considered his new command. On paper Golf Company, at United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka, was supposed to have 167 members. Instead he had 102 poorly trained yokels straight from Paris Island, a mustang 2nd Lieutenant as an XO and one seasoned Staff Sergeant from the Philippines. It was official, the brass hated him and was setting him up to fail so they could chuck his ass out. He would show them though 'Up or Out' would finish him off anyway at the end of the year.

Standing at the blackboard in his office, Captain Meyer explained the organization to 2nd Lieutenant Eric Jordan and Staff Sergeant Fredrick Jaeger. "As you no doubt realized, I'm a marked man. Sorry to drag you into this."

"No problem sir, twenty years in and I'm ready to retire anyway," Lt. Jordan spoke up.

"Welcome to the suck, piss off the wrong superiors and your career goes in the toilet no matter how right you are. Especially when defense contracts and retirement kickbacks are at stake," SSgt Jaeger added to solemn nods.

"Now we have one hundred two men in the company excluding us. We are it as far as NCOs and Officers. The men have not gone to SOI East and this place isn't set up for training, but we will have to make do. Due to understrength issues, the company will be divided into two platoons of 51 men. Lieutenant Jordan you'll have 1st Platoon. Staff Sergeant, 2nd Platoon. Now we been shortchanged drastically in terms of weapons. We have no mortars, two M-sixties that last saw maintenance in Vietnam, six M two four nines, and ten M two zero three grenade launchers."

"Fuck sir, who exactly did you piss off," SSgt Jaeger asked.

"Doesn't matter anymore, I put down thirteen grand of my own money to get us more M two zero threes and they will arrive in a week. Main thing now is to find what men we have are Sergeant material, so I arraigned for a series of mental and physical exercises to force those men into the open." Cpt. Meyer replied as he handed out the training schedule for the next two weeks.

"There is no time set for range firing," Lt. Jordan spoke.

"I could not get us an opening, I have been on the phone for the last nine hours trying to find us somewhere to at least practice basic marksmanship, but no luck. You have your orders, I am going to be busy just trying to get us somewhere to at least try to become a real unit."

"Oh, what is this warning about Negaverse activity about?" SSgt Jaeger asked as he survey the intelligence release with his orders.

"Far as I can tell, people are being attacked in the Tokyo area and being drained of lifeforce or some such nonsense by hooligans who are chased off or killed by two teenage vigilantes in sailor suites. It is the local police's problem, it is just a cautionary note to not hunt these hooligans and forward any information we have to the proper authorities, blah, blah, blah. Like I said, its the local police's problem not ours."

…...

**Six Weeks later**

"What! Sir, none of us speak Japanese or read it and you are ordering us to do security sweeps with local police, a job neither I or my men are trained for. That is a recipe for disaster even back home." Cpt. Meyer exclaimed in shock at such asinine orders.

The Naval Captain simply leaned back in his chair and gave Cpt. Meyer a folder. "Of course it is a disaster waiting to happen Captain, but this is straight from the President of the United States,"

Alarm bells went off in Cpt. Meyer's head. But before he could ask, the Captain cut him off.

"Everything you need to know is in this folder. I was not allowed to open it, your orders will be found in it. Dismissed."

…...

"So we are to take over this Hikawa Shrine and use it as a base to troll for Negaverse activity. Fools who haven't read the Evil Overlord Rules and pose no threat to us, considering that now four teenage girls and one masked vigilante keep busting them despite taking time to mouth off corny lines and use time consuming and contrived attacks." SSgt Jaeger stated in a phlegmatic tone.

"Shit, we can barely keep this collection of orphans under control as it is despite promoting six privates to Sergeants. This requires us to send our boys out in small teams with live ammo, that would be a recipe for disaster on our own soil much less here. I say we turn in our resignations. I am not going to be party to an operation that will leave our men out to dry and Japanese civilians dead when it goes wrong." Lt. Jordan added his two cents.

"I already tried it, no resignations will be accepted, I'm a marked man remember. I blew the whistle on the ERGM and had a chance to show a very detailed presentation of the benefits of the, MK-seven one, eight inch gun. It caused Congress to ask a lot of hard questions of quite a few Generals and Admirals and torpedoed hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts and several cushy retirement jobs."

"Damn Captain, they just should have chucked your ass out then like they did for the chap who blew the whistle on the early Bradleys, they didn't have to drag the men into this. If this weren't happening for real, I say this is a bad plot written by a sadistic author out to get you and us killed in some Hollywood esque plot." Lt. Jordan replied as he swigged his coffee.

"Would certainly explain this clusterfuck we're in," SSgt Jaeger added.

In unison they all gave the motto, "Semper Fidelis."

…...

Protesters were out in force as the company made its way to the Hikawa Shrine. To say they were pissed was an understatement as evidenced by the toilet paper and food being pelted at the vehicles carrying Golf Company.

Throughout all this chaos, Cpt. Meyer kept an eye out for trouble. All of this because he spoke out on the Extended Range Guided Munition (ERGM).

While looking good on paper, it missed the entire point of shore bombardment. That is, the bombardment was meant to blast suspected areas in the hope of hitting something. As the pacific campaign had shown, gunners had few exact targets and intelligence could only give rough guesses as to where possible targets may be. Hence the enormous naval barrages and carpet bombing. It was still true today as evidenced by the fact, pound per pound and cost effectiveness, B-52 carpet bombing was the most effective way to pulverize a defensive position.

What ERGM did was provide a $50,000 missile twice the length of ballistic rounds and carrying only 19 pounds of submunitions. In wartime, a basic fire mission would be "100 rounds fire for effect", so a typical ERGM barrage would cost $5,000,000 to deliver 1900 lbs of firepower, which was what a 16-inch battleship gun could deliver in one $200 shot. By contrast, a volley of five Tomahawk missiles could deliver 5000 lbs of firepower hundreds of miles at a cost of only $5,000,000.

After that presentation and with a budget crunch Congress ordered the MK-71/60 to replace the five inch guns and canceled the ERGM.

Which got his ass in a bind here. Hopefully the Sailor Scouts and Negaverse had enough sense to lay low while Marines with firearms patrolled the streets. Then again he would have better luck with Washington coming back to its senses and calling this operation off. There was a good reason why the military was kept separate from the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people.

Such distinctions carried two completely different mindsets as to the proper application of force. For example, a lone nut with a gun holed up in a house. Police would surround the building and try to negotiate a peaceful resolution. Cpt. Meyer and his marines on the other hand would give one warning to give up if at all and then light the place up, even going so far as to call in air strikes if necessary.

Sighing, Cpt. Meyer mentally made a note to schedule assemblies at the local area schools to educate the kids on the dangers of firearms, especially military ones, and hopefully figure out who these Sailor Scouts were so he could at the least warn them off from their vigilante activities or if necessary, put them in custody.

…...

Sailor Pluto stared in shock at the threads of time. Captain Carlton Meyer should have been kicked out just as she had arraigned for 1st Lieutenant John Reed and several others such as Colonel Hackworth.

All her years of work in slowly corrupting the U.S. Government and Military into impotence and collapse was threatening to come undone with dreadful consequences for the viability of Crystal Tokyo.

Sailor Pluto reviewed her work. She had greatly crippled the U.S. Military by getting its Congress to pass Up or Out and allowing only superiors' reviews to matter in promotions. This had the effect of forcing out competent free thinkers and replaced them with politically savvy ass kissers. After several decades the results were finally turning the U.S. Military into an over officered, politically correct, and grossly incompetent force that was an unsustainable monster. In a few years, Pluto had plans to get them involved in two guerrilla wars that would systematically bankrupt the U.S.

On the political side, Pluto slowly planted the seeds of corruption that saw the U.S. Government become insulated from its own people, beholden to rich PACs and uncaring of the fact that their Nations infrastructure was falling completely apart. Slowly but surely, the U.S. was turning into a modern feudal state with corporations becoming the new aristocracy and largely insulated from persecution due to loosened regulations and low tax rates that prevented the poor and middle class from competing or getting ahead. Eventually the corruption would become so great that regular disaster responses would be slow and incompetent and the nation's ability to create and maintain a healthy and prosperous country would be fatally weakened.

But somehow, somewhere, the plan had gone awry. The great freeze that would devastate most of humanity and leave them to view Neo Queen Serenity as their savior and unquestioned Goddess was being averted.

In its place was a humanity that rejected the New Order and Peace of Crystal Tokyo and instead wrote its own destiny of crude and vulgar democracy.

As if those fools knew better how to lead humanity than their Queen and Goddess.

…...

Mr. Hino watched the military convoy come up to the Shrine. He was extremely grateful for the Tsukino family taking in Rei. When the local Police Captain informed him that an American Marine Company would be using the shrine as a base, he and Yuichiro had to bodily restrain Rei from assaulting the Captain.

Not that he could blame her. This was an outrage of the highest order and was nothing less than blatant desecration of this holy ground and its Kami.

Immediately Mr. Hino's memories returned to Iwo Jima. He had been a Sergeant then, manning a Type 96 light machine gun. He had just received a letter from his wife informing him that he had a son. Going to the surface to thank the gods, he instead saw the entire horizon filled with American Ships. He spent the next 23 years fighting from the tunnels when at last seeing Japanese forces once again on the Island did he come out only to be told the war had been long over.

He returned home to find his son a corrupt public official, his wife married to another man, and no place for him. Contemplating suicide he came across Hikawa Shrine and became entranced by its serene beauty. It saved his life and now it was about to be desecrated and right on the heels of that desecrater that attacked him two days ago before being driven off by Rei's pet crows.

"Yuichiro, you have the letter."

"Yes master,"

"Good, this is my last Command, hold them back as long you can." With that Mr. Hino poured sacred oil over his head. Looking towards the steps he saw several marines immediately rushing towards him, recognizing what he was trying to do.

They never made it in time.

…...

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" SSgt Jaeger repeated as he took repeated drags on his cigarette while the Corpsmen put the dead Shrine Keeper in a bodybag.

"Pull it together Staff Sergeant and get security details deployed, Lieutenant Jordan get your platoon to secure the building we were assigned as a barracks," Cpt. Meyer spoke up. Inside he was still shaking at the grisly results of the Shrine Keeper's self immolation. He couldn't pick a worse way to die.

Glancing to his left, Cpt. Meyer noticed the Tokyo police interviewing the Shrine Keeper's apprentice. Realizing there was nothing more to be done for the Shrine Keeper or his family, returned to commanding his company. There was much he had yet to do before he could go to sleep.

As he began to move towards his radio man, he stepped on something. Bending down, Cpt. Meyer noticed an indigo color crystal where the Shrine Keeper had immolated himself. "Hold up, I think this belonged to the Shrine Keeper."

…...

"He did what!" Queen Beryl shouted at Zoisite.

"The sixth shadow burnt himself to death in protest against his shrine being host to these newcomers." Kunzite spoke up in defense of his lover.

"Whatever, just recover the crystal, I care not how you do it!" The queen shouted at both of them.

…...

Sailor Pluto stood in shock as everything she had been working towards started crashing in flames around her.

That did it, she was going to have to step in herself with Uranus and Neptune.

…...

Sergeant Jonas White, 29 years old and father of four young girls in Ohio, was the first one to spot Kunzite, Zoisite, and 19 youma who teleported practically on top of him. Acting quickly he identified Kunzite and Zoisite as a priority targets, despite enemies being closer to him, and gunned down both with two, three round, bursts to the chest before the generals could form a protective shield, killing the Dark Generals. "They're coming in! They're coming in! Help me! Help me!"

A youma gutted him with razor sharp, acid tipped, claws before help could reach him.

Private Gleeson of Michigan, reacting to the gunfire, avenged Sergeant White by unloading his SAW on the youma killing three of them out right and wounding a fourth. The rest scattered.

Five additional privates quickly converged on the sight with SSgt Jaeger and opened fired with their M-16s.

In the distance Captain Meyer could hear Lt. Jordan ordering his platoon to fan out. Motioning for his radioman, Captain Meyer immediately started to take control of the fight and drew his sidearm.

"Jaeger, I'm withholding half of Sarge Mike's squad as a reserve," Captain Meyer informed SSgt Jaeger.

"Roger sir,"

Two grenade explosions went off in rapid succession.

"Sir, Colonel Abram is on the line!" Private Oliver shouted.

Grabbing the phone, Cpt Meyer shouted over the pompous USAF Colonel at the Embassy. "Enemy assault! Unknown strength! One KIA! Requesting reinforcements and air support!"

Spotting movement out the corner of his eye, Captain Meyer spun around with private Henderson's fire team and unloaded their weapons into a second wave of youma that teleported in behind the Marines.

Sounds of rounds cooking off informed him another force had overrun and destroyed his ammo reserves still on the trucks with their four guards.

"Oliver, Broken Arrow! Ammo Resupply Urgent! Jordan get us arty ASAP! Form Circle!" Cpt Meyer spat out rapidly as the situation deteriorated and he fought to save his men from being slaughtered.

…...

Mrs. Tsukino was surprised to find the local police captain at her door and a trembling Yuichiro. "Captain Keitaro, Yuichiro, is something wrong."

"I'm afraid I bring terrible news for Miss Hino. Is she back yet from School?"

"Yes," Turning from the captain, Mrs. Tsukino calmly shouted up the stairs. "Rei, come here please."

There was no answer.

"Rei? Usagi?"

In the distance Mrs. Tsukino heard the faint sounds of thunder and the windows began to rattle.

…...

Sailor Pluto observed Golf Company fighting for its life. She had to admit that she had gravely underestimated Captain Carlton Meyer's ability to react to attacks by the Negaverse that she had made possible. It also surprised her that he hung back from the fighting where he could see all around him, instead of going on the line like King Endymion did.

Pluto tried to fathom Captain Meyer's command only, not fight method. It was quite frankly a cowardly way to lead by her reckoning. The man should be seeking his opposite number out for single combat so as to kill him and demoralize his forces.

That it was the proper place for an Officer to be in a place where he could effectively command and seeking out his opposite number on the field distracted from commanding did not enter her Medieval mindset.

Nor did the fact that the Negaverse Officers who tried seeking out Cpt Meyer, instead of commanding and coordinating the attack, themselves ended up getting killed and resulted in the youma attacks coming off disjointed and piecemeal allowing Cpt Meyer to bolster endangered parts of his defensive circle with reinforcements from quiet sides.

…...

"Fire for effect!" Lt. Jordan screamed over the roar of gunfire.

Out in the bay, two American destroyers, two Japanese destroyers, and one Japanese cruiser opened fire with their 5" guns.

Freight train noises filled the air followed by earth shattering booms.

…...

Sailor Mercury observed the fight from a Skyscraper ten blocks away in total shock while she waited for the others to arrive. Her Mercury goggles gave her a view of the battle in such detail that any military would sell their souls for.

If they knew how poorly she utilized it or the fact that her fellow scouts didn't have it as well, they would slap some sense into her.

"Where are you guys, the Americans are getting slaughtered," Mercury spoke to herself as her subspace computer fed her the American's radio chatter. But she couldn't make heads or tail of it and didn't think to run the translation program. Nor could she decipher the military jargon her country's own military used.

All a sudden her goggles tracked multiple shells coming in again. The sophisticated goggles immediately tracked the number, their speed, explosive content, and projected impact sites with the associated lethal blast zones, fragmentary zones, and best cover from said effects.

As the shells impacted, her goggles immediately updated her display with statistics indicating what shells exploded, reasons for duds, probable causalities by type and other useful information.

…...

Queen Beryl was flabbergasted by the losses she was taking in the fight. What the hell did these humans fight to require such weapons? Further what siege artillery were they using that fired so fast and responded so accurately to the flow of the battle?

Jaedite had understood the humans better than any of them though his explanations were rather far fetched. Maybe she erred in her punishment of him. Either way it was time to cut her losses, and if she ever saw Pluto again, she would kill that manipulative bitch for the fiasco she led her into.

"Arkanhite! Sound the recall! Get our people out of there!"

"Yes my Queen."

"Once all our people are back I want everyone interviewed and their statements forwarded to me. I'll be in my quarters." With that Queen Beryl retreated to said quarters.

…...

Captain Meyer stared in shock as the youma fled. One more push and his men who were down to their last mags would have been overwhelmed. Shaking himself out of it, he grabbed the phone from his radioman and made his report as the welcomed sound of helicopters reached his ear.

"Enemy has retreated! Multiple fires on the Shrine property! I have twenty WIAs in need of immediate evac! Six KIAs and four MIAs presumed KIAs. Extremely low on ammo!"

…...

Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Mars were shocked at the sheer number of Military Aircraft in the sky and had to duck behind cover several times to avoid being seen by passing Helicopters.

"Guys the Ground Self Defense Force is out in force as well, something must have gone terribly wrong at the Shrine," Jupiter noted.

"We should contact Mercury as to what happened at the Temple, the sound of fighting seems to have stopped. I just hope Grandpa made it out all right."

All a sudden the Public Announcement System went active, "Attention Citizens! Martial Law has been declared. Return to your homes. An eight pm to six am curfew has been placed in effect. I repeat,"

"Sailor Moon come in," Sailor Mercury paged from her communicator.

"Go ahead Mercury." Mars answered anxious for news about her grandpa.

"The Americans drove off the Negaverse. I don't know about your grandfather Mars. The shrine is totally wiped out, with much of... whoa!"

There was a loud sound on the communicator before it cut out.

"Mercury!" The scouts shouted at once before redoubling their speed to her last known position.

…...

In the Pentagon, a full Cover Your Ass operation was in progress. What was supposed to be a public relations ploy and a chance to capture one of these Negaverse terrorists had exploded in their faces like the current operation in Mogadishu was doing. Only difference was that Tokyo wasn't a third world shithole they could partially sweep under the rug all their mistakes.

The President and SecDef were screaming bloody murder at them over the fiascoes. Already Admiral David E. Jeremiah had been told to pack up all his shit and get out for the Tokyo and Mogadishu operations.

General Curtis, head of Military Intelligence, was shaking white in his office waiting for the axe to fall on him as well. He had pushed harder than most for the Tokyo Operation to catch one of the Negaverse terrorists.

General Curtis had totally assured everyone that the incompetent idiots were a small and interesting test of the full spectrum warrior concept.

Then the brigade size attack had nearly overwhelmed Captain Meyer's company. Nevermind the fact 4,500 Negaverse terrorists lay dead and 300 wounded had been captured. The facts were Curtis slipped up royally on intelligence nearly costing an entire company of marines and resulting in a major battle within a heavily populated allied capital.

It was already understood that Major General Garrison's career was finished due to the Mogadishu operation which was going further into the shitter with every passing moment with two birds down and the repulse of the rescue convoy. It also didn't help matters that the 10th Mountain, Pakistanis, and Malaysians were ticked as hell about not being informed of the raid and were in no condition to launch an immediate rescue mission.

So the trapped men had to wait overnight for rescue with one man barely clinging to life, multiple Rangers wounded and in need of medical care, and two Delta Force commandos being the only ones able to help Super Sixty Four's trapped pilot.

In addition, to silence Captain Meyer from revealing just how much he was fucked over in the Tokyo Battle, recommendations for the Silver Star was being written up for him as well as a cushy assignment and promotion to Major till they could quietly get rid of Meyer.

Left unsaid were the fears of a Congressional Inquiry into both disasters and the fact Meyer could very well speak his mind.

…...

President Clinton held the phone at arm length as the Japanese Prime Minister, Morihiro Hosokawa, screamed at him over the battle in Tokyo.

What Clinton was hearing was completely at odds with what he had been told by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and he was getting beyond pissed, especially with the ongoing fiasco in Mogadishu.

Maybe retired Colonel Hackworth was right and some reforms were needed. Pulling out a memo, President Clinton wrote a note to fire the Joint Chiefs and bring Hackworth back to active duty as a full General.

To quote from his book, "And this is just the beginning."

…...

Walter Frederick Mondale, the American Ambassador to Japan was also on the line with the President and Japanese Prime Minister. Listening in was Colonel Abram who was himself on the phone with several others. Also on the same line was General Nishi of the JGSDF.

"The 1st Division and sniper teams are deploying as we speak. The main thing is to clear the streets. The Police must remain out in force, and all available officers and reserves must report to duty."

"I got off the phone with General Maxwell, he can have two battalions of Marines from Okinawa here in three hours. More to follow as he rounds them up."

"What about Meyer's Company?"

"Its combat ineffective, His command staff was taken out in the last minute of the fight, and all his sergeants are down. He is currently enroute to this Embassy with the survivors to absorb Second Lieutenant Harant's security platoon. He also states he managed to snatch one of the so called Sailor Scouts, the one calling herself Mercury. Almost missed spotting her. So we'll start to get some answers as to this Negaverse organization."

…...

Captain Meyer laid back against the door with his foot on the skid and the late SSgt Jaeger's M-16 at the ready. 'What parent lets their kid dye their hair blue?' The girl in question was still blinking out the black spots in her vision after he ordered the pilot to blind her with the searchlight mounted on the chopper so they could take her into custody.

Further, Cpt Meyer was intrigued by her strange goggles which seemed to be providing a wide range of information. Colonel Abram would no doubt grill her relentlessly on those goggles.

"We'll be landing in one minute sir, Colonel Abram is waiting for you and the vigilante," The pilot announced.

"Acknowledged," Captain Meyer answered.

Looking out at the city, Cpt. Meyer could see Sniper Teams deploying to rooftops. After all that had happened, he supposed it shouldn't have surprised him.

"Where did these birds come.." There was a loud wham and the alarm bells went off.

Captain Meyer and Sailor Mercury were thrown clear. Acting quickly, Cpt Meyer rolled on his back and relaxed, forgetting about this world, so the shock would be absorbed equally across the back of his body and maximize his chances of survival.

Sailor Mercury now able to see clearly quickly aimed for the side of a building and rebounded off it into a more controlled fall into an awning. Her super human strength enabling her to do it without breaking her legs and her magical abilities enabled her to then balance perfectly on the thin awning despite her arms being bound behind her back. Catching her breath, she watched in horror as Cpt Meyer hit the ground and the helicopter smashed into the ground plowing a huge furrow into the street.

"You're Sailor Mercury aren't you?"

Mercury jumped in surprise as a white cat with a crescent moon symbol spoke to her from a window just above the awning.

"Who are you?"

"Pardon me, I'm,"

"Not now Artemis, you need to get in here Mercury until this dies down," a Sailor Scout in the livery of Venus said as she appeared next to Artemis.

…...

"Meyer's bird went down? Damnit this better not be another Mogadishu disaster in the making, the President is extremely pissed off, get the damn situation under control!"

An aide rushed into the Secretary of Defense with a printout. Les Aspin SecDef of the U.S. took one look at it and flew into a rage.

"There was a fatal collision between a Navy Seahawk and a JGSDF Huey, damnit!"

…...

"Sailor Moon, Jupiter, and Mars! Thank heavens I found you." Luna exclaimed as she fought for breath.

"Luna, any news on Mercury?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Yes, she is safe for now, but we need to get off the streets. Snipers are being deployed and there is no telling what they may do, so let us get into this allyway so you can detransform. There is a tuna shop nearby with the proprietor having taken a liking to me. We can hole up there for now."

"But my grandpa may still be out there! I have to make sure he is okay!" Mars protested.

"Mars there is nothing more we can do, it is getting too dangerous to remain on the streets!" Luna firmly shouted at the determined Mars.

…...

Captain Meyer started to come to as several Pararescuemen fast roped onto the scene.

"Sir are you okay?" One of them called out to the Captain as he rushed forward with a medkit and five of his fellows.

Jumping back to his feet, Cpt Meyer immediately started to take command as his wits and last sight before blacking out returned to him.

"You three, return to the Seahawk and assist the others on the Seahawk," Cpt Meyers instructed before turning to a sergeant and airman, "Sergeant, Airman, I had a prisoner who landed safely. We need to recover her before she escapes. She is probably still in this building, now lets move."

Captain Meyer never noticed the cat he landed on or the purple crystal next to the dead cat's body.

…...

"Roger, deploying MARDET four five six," The pilot of Seaflight 79 spoke.

Sergeant Chris Redfield immediately began deploying his 11 men. "Touchdown, lets go, Golf Six, this is Packer Three, we are the roof and are moving down."

"Roger Packer Three, absolutely no one is to leave until we do a room by room sweep, Golf Six out."

…...

Brevet General David Hackworth stormed into the Pentagon situation room with fire and brimstone. He was beyond pissed, first having a wonderful barbecue disturbed, and now learning that these idiots botched up a simple snatch and run op in Somalia and on top of it, nearly got a marine company overrun in an equally poorly thought out op in Tokyo... Well it made his blood boil.

"Is one of you idiots man enough to tell me just what the fuck is going on here."

"General Hackworth, sir, the Super Sixty One crash site is secured, but Super Sixty Four has been taken by the militias. Ninety-eight men are still trapped in the city. The rescue convoy is currently enroute. As for Tokyo, the city is still being locked down, no further attacks have occurred yet, but there have been two helicopter accidents, and a high value prisoner has escaped after the helicopter she was on crashed. Captain Meyer is in the process of recovering her." An Air Force Major spoke up.

"Alright, Tokyo is well in hand for now, so its Mogadishu we must concentrate on. As soon as the convoy arrives they are to load the men and hook a steel cable to Sixty One and drag it back to base." General Hackworth ordered.

"Sir, the convoy doesn't have the equipment to do that." An Army Colonel spoke up.

"In that case, load the wounded and destroy the bird along with the trapped bodies."

"Sir," Several people objected at once.

Slamming his fist onto the table, Hackworth silenced them. "This 'leave no man behind' bullshit ends now. Our priorities are the mission and the welfare of the men in that order. So that means we need to get the wounded to safety and prevent the Somalis from gaining anything useful from the Blackhawks. On that note, order the Nightstalkers to destroy the Sixty Four crash site immediately. The dead are dead and care not anyway."

…...

"Elevators are locked out Captain, we are now lowering them down for our use." A Tokyo Police Captain informed Captain Meyer.

"Excellent, as soon as they're down we'll begin the search for Mercury. Everyone should have a picture of her and be advised she may have altered her appearance somewhat." Turning to look out the window, Captain Meyer noticed a trio of Tokyo policewomen glaring daggers at him from where he fell. Their nametags announced them as Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna, the last of whom had just picked up a purple crystal off the ground by a dead cat. 'Must have landed on it, though its not my fault for its death,' Cpt Meyer thought before returning the job at hand.

…...

Ami Mizuno finished calling her mother. Mrs. Mizuno had been trying to get a hold of her quite some time, several of the wounded Americans had been brought to the Hospital in critical condition and one had just died from his wounds while she worked to save his life. She was relieved to know Ami was safe at a new friend's house.

Ami for her part was shocked at how bad things were, but what really shocked her was her mother informing her about Rei's grandfather. That was totally unexpected and the revelation that he had for years gone largely untreated for his PTSD stemming from his WW2 service was another shock as well.

When she contacted Usagi to let her know she was alright she held off mentioning Mr. Hino's death. That should be done in person in a better suited place as the news would no doubt devastate Rei.

Switching on the TV, Ami listened in as the reporters started to give out information.

"So far sixteen American Marines are confirmed dead, fourteen from the fight at the Hikawa Shrine, two from a helicopter crash. In addition, five American Naval personnel were killed in the two helicopter crashes. Three JGSDF were killed in the second crash. All names are currently being withheld. Wait just in, another American Marine has succumbed to his injuries from the Shrine battle and five more are desperately clinging to life. The Defense Agency will neither confirm nor deny rumors they captured hundreds of wounded Negaverse terrorists. Total Negaverse death toll stands at 4,500."

Ami shut off the TV in shock.

"Ami, I found you some Pajamas you can use." Minako Aino informed Ami. Noticing she was trembling, Minako sat down next to her. "Ami, whats wrong?"

"They got slaughtered Minako, I watched them fight for their lives. They were completely cut off, yet they stood their ground and kept fighting and I just stood by and watched too shocked and afraid to hel..." Ami broke into tears as Mina pulled her into a hug.

"Ami, there were thousands of youma attacking, there was no way for you to render any effective assistance. I doubt even all the scouts combined could have fought such a force. You did the right thing staying out of the fight." Artemis spoke up.

"Artemis is right, there is no way we scouts could have taken on that large of a force. Single youma are enough trouble as it is and those Marines were far more suited to handling that large of a force."

Then the door to the apartment was kicked in and MARDET 456 and Captain Meyer came in.

…...

Captain Meyer was pleased that his initial guess had been right and there was no need to do an arduous apartment by apartment search.

Even further the latest minicam and recording device MARDET 456 had enabled him to record the incriminating conversation they had. They could deny all they like about being Sailor Scouts, but he had them on tape and as he surveyed them he noticed the markings from the plasticuffs on Mercury/Ami's wrists and said cut cuffs on the window still.

"Hey we are Japanese," The one known as Minako started to say in English.

"Can it, this city is under Martial Law, which means I can arrest you for security reasons. Now you can come quietly and once you answer our questions, I'll release you to your parents, or we can do this the hard way and when we are done, you will spend time in the brig."

…...

Queen Beryl read through the copy of the Rules of the Evil Overlord and winced at all the rules that she and her people had broken, thus leading to their defeat. It was quite simply time for a completely new strategy.

"Jaedite, I want you to hire assassins to kill Usagi Tsukino, Rei Hino, and Ami Mizuno."

"It will be done my Queen," The reinstated General complied.

"Now all I need is a five year old advisor, where can I get one?" Beryl said to herself.

…...

"Damnit Garrison! Can you do anything fucking right! Tell the rest of the men to run for it and get them the fuck out of there. There is a large crowd of militia forming up and they'll be all over you in forty minutes. You don't have time to wait for more vehicles!" General Hackworth slammed the phone down.

"Tokyo!" Hackworth shouted.

"Sir, we now have twenty-three marines dead and five sailors dead. But the rest of the causalities are stable now and expected to make a full recovery. Furthermore, Captain Meyer recovered his prisoner and another one of the scouts. Most of the Negaverse prisoners have died, but ninety seven are expected to live. Second Battalion Fifth Marines is now deploying, third is forming up as we speak. Ten percent of Tokyo is now locked down."

"I want the names of those who sent Captain Meyer and his Marines into combat undertrained, understaffed, understrength, and undergunned. And ready a full inquiry into their actions. By god, those boys will have justice for the casual way they were sent into harm's way."

"Sir! Los Angeles reports it has collided with a Russian Kilo in the Arctic."

"Is this fuckups galore month! Whats next you gonna tell me some B fifty two is carrying an unsecured and unauthorized Nuke with a Major riding on it because he lost his marbles!"

At the hesitant nod from the Naval Ensign, Hackworth exploded, "Get me General fucking Terrence on the phone immediately!"

…...

"You speak English Officer Setsuna?"

Setsuna was startled at being addressed by the very headache, Captain Meyer, that derailed everything. "Yes, what do you want?"

"Ah, good. Rain is currently falling here but is not ten blocks away. MARDET four five six is needed elsewhere to lock down the city and I need help escorting these Sailor Scouts to my rendezvous point at the Hayashi Tuna Shop so I can signal my helicopter. I don't speak a word of Japanese and Captain Juchiro has to be elsewhere."

Setsuna allowed herself to smile, at last she could fix some of the damage. "Sure. Haruka, Michiru, grab these scouts and follow me with Captain Meyer."

Setsuna knew she didn't have to say what they were really going to do once they had the chance. Already Haruka and Michiru were whispering into the Inner Scouts' ears the plan.

All they needed was an opening and hopefully they would be able to shake this nuisance.

…...

"STA four in position."

"STA nine in position"

"This is Tango six, we are enroute to check point Bravo Two Zero."

"Negative Seasprite six nine, maintain holding pattern. Seasprite five two, take overwatch on overpass seven with your snipers."

"This is Grizzly Six, nail this place tight. We lost too many of our brothers already, Grizzly Six out."

"This is Hammer Five to Hammer Six, forecast indicates massive storm buildup all birds are to come home after deploying teams."

Cpt. Meyer finally found the channel for his use. "This is Golf Six to Med Five, stat report on my men."

"Golf Six, Lieutenant Jordan has lost his right leg. Privates Novak and Christopher have just exited surgery and are in the ICU. Sergeant Majal is out of ICU. Walking wounded have been returned to the embassy. Med Five out"

Captain Meyer spotted the Hayashi Tuna Shop, "Ah we're..." Captain Meyer barely saw Pluto in her true form before she delivered the blow that knocked him out.

…...

Usagi, Rei, Makoto, and Luna sat in the Hayashi Tuna shop waiting for Captain Keitaro to pick them up, though Usagi found it strange that her mother was calm about all this and asked if Rei was okay. Usagi was taken aback further by the instruction not to listen to the news. She couldn't fathom the reason for it, but her mother was insistent so she promised.

However, Mamoru Chiba, to her horror, who happened to be in the shop as well, was moving to have the proprietor turn on the TV so as to get news as to the situation outside despite her objections.

"Enough meat ball head, we need to know what is going on. Our safety depends on it."

"Don't call me that!" Usagi replied with her usual disdain and facial reactions.

Another patron in the building named Professor Tomoe who was with his daughter Hotaru agreed with Mamoru's argument as well.

"They are right Usagi," Rei spoke up as she turned on the TV.

"The Americans have now released photos of those killed now as their families have been notified." The anchor spoke followed by a series of photos and names while the people in the shop looked on in horror. "In addition the three JGSDF were," Another series of photographs and names appeared. "Deputy Prime Minister Urawa Hino has released a statement confirming the death of his father in the Shrine Battle..."

"No!" Rei screamed before falling to the floor in tears.

Usagi, Mamoru, and Makoto were by her side in an instant.

Usagi was first though. Embracing Rei into a bearhug, the equally shocked Usagi let slide a single tear.

Instantly the rainbow crystals responded. Seven lights appeared above Usagi who rose up transforming into Sailor Moon as she did so. Mars and Jupiter also arose replacing Rei and Makoto followed by Hotaru rising up as Sailor Saturn. Coming in through the door Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Venus, Mercury, and Artemis were witness to Sailor Moon turning into Eternal Sailor Moon as all their powers immediately began to combine into her.

In the air the seven Rainbow Crystals combined together to make the Ginzuishou. Eternal Sailor moon held up her hands on both sides of the silver crystal and transformed into Eternal Princess Serenity. Prince Endymion's hands immediately cupped hers around the Ginzuishou and the wings on Princess Serenity's back flared out to their full length.

Pluto could only stare in shock. 'This wasn't supposed to happen yet, Meyer alone couldn't account for this. Wait a second how can he recover from my punch. Is he made of iron?' Pluto thought as she witnessed the awake Captain Meyer staring on the future King and Queen in equal shock to hers before recovering and moving with Neptune and Uranus to block Saturn from Serenity.

…...

Captain Meyer had never once believed in the Bible after realizing just how utterly incomprehensible it was in its multiple contradictions. But upon seeing Serenity and Endymion, he couldn't help but say softly, "You're officially a lucky bastard," at Endymion.

Falling to his knees, Captain Meyer couldn't contain his awe at the heavenly sight of Serenity before him. Proof positive that there was indeed a Goddess out there as her sight invoked his knowledge of the Greek Goddess Selene who came to earth from the moon and fell in love with the mortal son of Zeus who was named Endymion.

All the while the two spoke to each other. Whatever language they were using, it wasn't Japanese of that he was sure. They talked for what seemed like ages as the rain fell down in a torrent.

Then they turned towards the Scout that broke his nose with her punch. The man he designated as Endymion was down right furious and Serenity was possessed of great sadness.

But before they could speak Cpt Meyer noticed one of the patrons pulling a Heckler & Koch MK23 Mod 0 with LAM and Suppressor. Acting quickly, Meyer brought his rifle to bear, "Get down!" Meyer shouted.

Endymion immediately grabbed Serenity and threw them both to the ground, giving Meyer a clear shot. But the patron had a clear shot as well and both their rounds hit their targets.

Cpt. Meyer's three round burst hit Professor Tomoe in the neck, killing him instantly while Professor Tomoe's round hit a White Phosphorus Grenade on Meyer's utility harness. The grenade exploded from the impact, washing Cpt Meyer in deadly smoke and burning fragments.

Captain Meyer screamed in agony while Saturn screamed in grief at the sight of her dead father as Neptune and Uranus restrained her.

…...

Serenity allowed Endymion to help her up off the floor. As she stood up, she nearly threw up at the sight of the nearly severed head of Professor Tomoe who while seemingly cold, had been doting on his daughter the entire time they had been there. She would never had suspected him of wanting to kill her.

Outside the American Marine Captain was screaming in agony with the left side of his face on fire with sparks coming out of a gash on his left cheek. His clothing was also on fire with his clothing providing little protection from the intense heat.

"Mercury B..."

"No!" The proprietor shouted as he grabbed Mercury in the middle of performing her attack in an attempt to put out the fire on the marine. "Its phosphorus, water will make it worse," The elderly proprietor explained as he grabbed a fire extinguisher and began attending to the Captain.

"Pluto whatever possessed you to go against your orders!" Endymion shouted at the shocked Pluto who was sitting down in a chair in shock. Her inability to answered enraged Endymion further, and caused him to yank her out of the chair and force her to look at the still screaming Captain Meyer. "Look at him! Your actions have lead to this and got his men slaughtered!"

Serenity finally came out of her shock and intervened. "Enough Endymion, this solves nothing," Serenity spoke as she laid a calming hand on Endymion's shoulder.

Endymion stepped aside and motioned Neptune and Uranus to let a grief stricken Saturn go.

Concentrating on Pluto, Serenity placed her hands on Pluto's shoulders. "Pluto, humanity must choose its own fate. We have no right to dictate it to them or we would be no better than rapists. I have no desire to rule the world as I have and always will wish to be nothing more than a housewife. Your desires for a Utopia allowed a small portion of Chaos to anchor to your soul and corrupt your purpose." Smiling sadly at Pluto, Serenity kissed a shocked Pluto's forehead.

The symbol of Pluto replaced Setsuna's tiara and a black form was expelled from her body and dissipated.

Breaking down, Pluto collapsed to the floor weeping. Following her down, Serenity pulled Pluto into her embrace. "Its over now, its all going to be set right as much as I can do so."

"No, you'll die!" Pluto answered in shock as Serenity rose with the Ginzuishou above her head in the shape of a rose before attaching it to her Moon Stick.

"Serenity!" All the scouts and Endymion shouted as they realized what she was about to do.

The Ginzuisho flared bright with energy as Serenity spread her wings high and rose into the sky, the bleed off of power expelling the weak fragment of Mistress 9 from Saturn.

"My friends, my love, help me," Serenity called out to them.

Endymion responded first walking up and rising to stand by his love.

One by one the scouts formed a circle around Serenity and joined hands, their tiaras being replaced by the symbols of their planets. All at once the symbols began to glow along with their brooches which changed to star shapes before further energy engulfed them transforming them into their true Eternal Forms.

"Mercury Star Power!"

"Venus Star Power!"

"Mars Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

"Saturn Star Power!"

"Neptune Star Power!"

"Uranus Star Power!"

"Pluto Star Power!"

Serenity opened her eyes and shouted with every bit power she had, "Moon Crystal Healing Power Activation!"

A massive wave of life force and pure love energy flooded the Tokyo area.

…...

"The proper application of force is one of the hardest choices a leader must make. It is not without serious aftershocks and consequences."


	2. Aftershocks and Consequences

Aftershocks and Consequences

The steady beep of the monitor was the only thing that let Ikuko Tsukino know her daughter Usagi was still alive after two weeks here in the Intensive Care Unit of Kiyose Children's Hospital. Mrs. Tsukino was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Usagi had been Sailor Moon and an avatar of the Moon Goddess Selene as some were even going so far as to say.

Ikuko remembered trying to tell the battered looking American Captain that appeared at her door he must be mistaken, her Usagi couldn't possibly be involved. She stopped protesting when Usagi's cat Luna spoke to her and confirmed it. Ikuko then had to endure a hair raising ride in an American Chopter flown by a madman who was weaving in and out of the skyline while other helicopters passed close by. Only when they landed at the hospital under heavy guard did she release Luna from her death grip.

Ikuko had then been rushed into the hospital to be told, by a young man who introduced himself as Endymion, that her daughter had just come out of the emergency room after a successful resuscitation procedure to get her heart beating properly again. A nurse then led Ikuko and Luna to Usagi's room which was under armed guard by the JGSDF. Ikuko fought her shock at seeing her daughter hooked up to an IV drip, intubation tubes leading to a mechanical ventilator, a nasal feeding tube, and catheter. Luna on the other wailed inconsolably at the sight of Usagi.

It was nothing, though, compared to the weeping done by her husband Kenji.

For the past two weeks she had stayed by Usagi's side along with Luna who had become a close companion as they waited for Usagi to come out of her coma. In the afternoon her husband and Shingo her son would visit bringing her fresh get well gifts sent by multiple people and fresh clothes.

The only other visitor permitted into the room was Mr. Hino. Ikuko had met him on a few occasions when she visited the Hikawa Shrine and despite his perverted habits, held him in great respect. Now that he had been resurrected by Usagi, he had a new purpose. Namely starting a Goddess cult around her daughter which was growing everyday as word of her miracles spread like wildfire. Surprisingly it was spreading faster amongst the American Marine Corps than it was amongst her own people. Not surprising considering most of those resurrected and made whole were Marines from the Battle of Hikawa Shrine. The captain who brought her here had been amongst those healed or resurrected though he would not say what had happened to him, though Ikuko could guess by the state of his uniform that night that he had been horribly burned.

However, the cult was also resulting in a massive backlash from established Western Religions and security had been beefed up tremendously around the hospital. A JNSDF Admiral had informed her earlier today that they would be transferring Usagi soon to a more secured building where they were holding Usagi's friends in protective custody. Ikuko realized it was for the best. The longer Usagi stayed here the more danger the other patients were in from religious extremists.

Picking up a brush along with a nurse, Ikuko began to tend to her daughter's hair with the help of the nurse while Luna napped on the dresser. "Oh Usagi, I think you're lucky to be sleeping now, your father freaked upon being told the truth about Endymion." Giggling in spite of herself, Ikuko leaned in closer to whisper in her daughter's ear, "Don't worry though, he'll come around, besides, Endymion is cute. I can't wait till you bring him to dinner."

…...

Major Carlton Meyer relaxed against the door frame of his Seahawk transport with his M-16 at his side and left boot planted firmly on the skid. His promotion was no surprise to him. After the Hikawa Shrine incident, the perfumed princes would go out of their way to shut him up. What he hadn't expected was General David Hackworth being in charge of all U.S. Forces.

Even further was the announcement by the President without any warning that he was being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor along with Sergeant Jonas White, Gunnery Sergeant Fredrick Jaeger, and the late Gary Ivan Gordon and Randall 'Randy' David Shughart. And by without warning, he meant right in front of the press with him, White, Jaeger, and the families of the two Delta Force Commandos present with the medals ready with no prep time. It also wasn't exactly the right way to broach the fact that his men had been resurrected by his actions, thus reminding the families of those who participated in the Mogadishu Operation that their sons were still dead. Smart move Clinton. Smart.

Had Major Meyer had any warning he would have attempted to talk the President out of awarding him the CMOH merely for doing his job as an officer of the U.S. Military. Hell he would have fought against being awarded a bronze star for his actions. Too many medals as it were got handed out like candy to Officers with little going to the enlisted. Most were nothing more than attendance medals, yet top brass paraded in the public with them to appear as if they were highly decorated. The Army was the worst offender in that regard with recruits leaving basic training with three medals. One for just showing up, one for tossing a grenade, and one for graduating, by contrast a Marine had to serve a year in the Fleet Marine to get one medal.

Luckily General Hackworth was ramming through new guidelines and oversight on the awarding of medals and was pushing Congress to ban medal awards to Officers since they have the "special trust and confidence" of the Commander-in-Chief. Thus much more is expected of Officers than enlisted. But knowing Congress, at most they would ban awards to Flag Officers if that.

Now he was heading back to Japan to take command of an oversized company that existed more on paper than in fact. At least this time he would be getting properly trained and equipped Marines once the Corp and the rest of the Military unSNAFUed itself in the reforms and reorganizations that had been going on since the Hikawa Shrine battle and the resulting war with the Negaverse Kingdom starting. Already 67 Admirals and Generals were tossed out on their asses, 900 Colonels and Naval Captains also went out the door as well.

If there was one thing he objected to in his orders, it was this. The Sailor Scouts were being placed under his semi-command as a Company asset. All his objections against that had been over ruled despite the backing of General Hackworth and the acting Commandant of the Marine Corp.

Just another headache he would have to deal with, hormonal teenage girls and one near adult who thought corny lines, time consuming attacks, and love would be all that would matter. 'Well hopefully once Gunny Jaeger put them through some basic training those bad habits would cease. But seriously, semi-under my command. What the fuck! They are either under my command or not!' Major Meyer thought.

…...

Ami laid on her back in her bed in the dorm assigned to her and the other scouts with the exception of Pluto who had disappeared after Serenity used the Ginzuishou. She was still trying to come to grips with what had happened two weeks ago. On more than one occasion Ami had broken down in a debriefing session or awoke screaming at night in horror as she relived the events of that night. Ami friends had tried to help her and their 'hosts' had assigned a psychiatrist to treat her, but it was having little effect.

When Ami had first become a scout, she thought she could take on any challenge and had never once thought anything could go wrong. The youma weren't human and their attacks turned them to dust. No one had been killed in any of their fights. At least that was what she kept telling herself after Nephlite died protecting Naru.

Then came the battle at the shrine. Ami stood by as real soldiers, or marines as she kept getting reminded, fought a real fight. It wasn't like the relatively neat battles they fought. It was noisy, smoky, and bloody. The marines didn't bother shouting out lines about love and justice and their leader didn't go seeking his opposite number. Instead the enlisted marines poured remorseless volleys of rifle fire into the charging youma breaking up their attacks before they slammed into their line, while their officers called in artillery and kept an eye on the fight so they could shift men to threaten parts of their defensive circle and rarely fired their weapons. It seemed to be going all their way till they ran out of ammo for their SAWs and M-60s and the youma were able to mix it up a bit and tore several marines apart before being beaten back.

Then Ami saw desperation as the youma came on again. Zooming in Ami saw one marine, who she learned was SSGT Jaeger, pull the pin off a WP grenade only to be knocked down by youma strike. The SSGT had dropped the grenade as he fell and swept it under him before it blew up at the back of two marines, thus saving their lives but costing his own.

Then there had been Captain Meyer and how Ami had nearly worsened his wounds by spraying him with her bubbles, not realizing that white phosphorus would reignite almost immediately afterward and worsen the damage.

Lastly came Usagi, she had sacrificed herself to bring an end to the madness and Ami and the others had frozen as her heart stopped. But not Captain Meyer who pushed past his emotions at being restored and rushed to perform CPR while the proprietor called for an ambulance.

"How could we have been so blind as to what we were getting into," Ami spoke out aloud.

"Huh," the others replied.

But Ami had already broke down into tears again. As the other scouts rushed to her side.

…...

Retired Naval Captain Eugene Cernan opened a classified folder on his Apollo 17 mission while his fellow Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt opened his own. In those folders were additional photos of the Sea of Serenity and the ruins they had briefly visited before they had to leave the moon.

For three decades they had been forbidden to talk about them while top brass figured out what to do with the knowledge. Now they were being allowed to brief the president on what they had seen on that fateful trip to the moon. Especially now that they had a potential Greek Goddess, albeit in a deep coma, on the planet.

The initial estimate of the age of the ruins was roughly 10,000 years and the signs they saw showed that a massive battle had wrecked the structures that once stood in the Sea of Serenity.

…...

Queen Beryl stood flabbergasted as a pitiful remnant of the 30 youma she sent out to capture Staff Sergeant Lee Ermey came back in holding a still defiant Ermey.

But this man was who her five year old advisor, Christine, stated would be the perfect man to train her forces once he was convinced of the futility of serving the light. Beryl supposed it was worth the loss of 25 of her minions to capture the man.

"Hi, Ermey, I like your movies, just don't tell my mommy. I'm not supposed to be watching them." Christine spoke up from Queen Beryl's side.

"You took rule twelve seriously?" A shocked SSGT Ermey asked Beryl. On top of that what mother let her daughter have access to his movies?

Beryl tired of being preempted stood up. "Enough, take him before Metallia."

…...

Rei entered into conference room 320 for the fifth time this week. To her disgust her Father, Urawa Hino, was present again. Not that she didn't have much warning as her new clothes attested to.

"What do you want this time Prime Minister?" Rei spat out, refusing to acknowledge her father's ties to her.

"Really Rei, I become the Prime Minister and try to protect..."

"Spare me, all you care about is lining your pockets with defense contracts." Rei cut off her father, "If there isn't anything else, I'm done here."

"Actually there is. I trust you have met Captain, I mean Major Carlton Meyer."

"Briefly, we didn't exactly have time to talk as we were too busy trying to keep Usagi alive."

"I suppose so, in any event, Major Meyer will be heading a new unit dedicated to exploiting you and your friends capability against the Negaverse a lot more efficiently."

"Exploiting us? Is it not enough you drive Ami crazy by repeatedly hounding her over her goggles and supercomputer?"

"Perhaps exploit is a poor use of words, a..."

"Don't." Rei warned.

"Rei, you know if,"

"Forget it, the Ginzuishou belongs to Princess Serenity and I won't tell you how to use it."

"Then we're done."

Rei's father signaled for the guards to escort her to her tutor. Since attending school was definitely out, the military had hired several tutors so they could continue their education and made every effort to rub it in on how much they were spending on them and their families' protection and health and how they should be more cooperative. The only exception was an American Army Colonel who taught science.

Colonel **Halverston** spoke fluent Japanese and was well liked even though he was one of those who questioned Ami relentlessly on her goggles and computer for his service branch of Artillery. However, he was far nicer about it, knowing one to back off, and was the one who got Ami a psychiatrist.

As Rei entered the class, the Colonel was getting out one his meteorology devices to help with today's lesson.

…...

"Pluto, I know you're there."

Pluto was startled out of her stupor by the Time Gate where she had been crying since that night.

"Neo Queen Serenity, I've failed you."

Queen Serenity appeared before Pluto. "No, in many ways, you have managed to contain the piece of Chaos within you sufficiently enough to prevent you from doing lasting damage."

"How, the timeline is completely shattered,"

"Chaos's plan backfired on it. When I used the Ginzuishou, through my younger self, to repair the damage, I came into contact with a being from another universe where Humanity developed quite differently on Earth."

"That is impossible Serenity, it violates paradox."

"Only in a normal time stream. However, as I talked to the Immortal Emperor of Mankind, he revealed to me the full scope of Chaos's war against humanity across multiple Universes. He himself has been fighting a losing war against Chaos as well as various other races just as eager to destroy humanity that was bathing his entire Galaxy in blood for for over twenty thousand years, which itself is a continuation of a millions of years of much older races warfare. For him, there is only war and once Chaos conquers his Galaxy, they will flood into ours."

"Is that why Mamoru joined the Airforce, and why you did not just reset time."

"Yes, in order to prepare for the coming war we must have actual military forces at our disposal who are ready and willing to fight. The Immortal Emperor will buy all the time he can for our Galaxy, but his Space Marines and Imperial Guard are being destroyed as fast as he can rebuild them and he is unable to take the field due to mortal wounds ten thousand years ago that confined him to his Golden Throne."

"Can't you just train new forces from your end?"

"You know very well how much our forces are a joke, and by doing it from my end, we lose significant time in preparing for what will be a Galaxy spanning war against horrors that made Galaxia seem quite tame. It will be hard enough to prevent Chaos from corrupting time itself. I can not also be at the same time taking on beings of pure Chaos at the same time while simultaneously guarding human souls. It is saddening that I have to infuse my younger self with far greater power than I could handle at such an age. Hence why she is in a coma as her body gets use to such power."

"Tell me what I must do Serenity."

…...

Captain Eric Jordan oversaw a live ammo assault course of the 167 men of Golf Company as it was winding down. After the disastrous Hikawa Shrine battle, Golf Company was on the verge of of being disbanded once the after-action-reports got filed. Then the miracle occurred that resurrected their dead and restored those who were wounded or lost body parts such as himself.

In the resulting aftershocks of the battle, a lot of heads rolled and the company was duly brought to full strength and sent to this Japanese training facility for a six week training course of live fire exercises and Japanese language courses in preparation for forming a new unit dedicated to fighting the Negaverse under Major Meyer.

Turning his attention to 2nd Lieutenant Malcolm's Platoon. He noticed the Lieutenant was leading his platoon too far ahead of the others and began reeling him in. 'Looks like I'm going to have to go over Company Maneuvers one o one with Malcolm again.'

"Golf Six, this is Grizzly Six, come in over."

"Grizzly Six, this Golf Six, I read you loud and clear over."

"Golf Six, cease the exercise and bring your company in, Hammer Six wishes to address the Battalion over."

"Rodger Wilco"

…...

"You Major Gregory Dole?" Major Meyer asked a sleeping USAF Major at the windows of the Tokyo Airport.

The startled Major woke up at Meyer's voice and shot up to his feet so fast, he almost bowled Major Meyer over. "Er yes I'm Major Dole. Callsign Obsessednuker."

At the perplexed look on Major Meyer's face, the USAF forward air controller (FAC) explained, "I was heavily involved in our nuclear attack planning and was a bit liberal in applying doses of Uncle Sam's instant sunshine in target assessments."

"Well this isn't SAC or whatever they are calling it now, and when you are in my unit, I expect you to at least have basic competency with a rifle, which by looking at your chest, I can see you lack that."

Major Meyer empathized the last point by indicating the Major's chest full of attendance medals, and administrative awards for excellence. He wasn't totally a REMF, a purple heart and silver star attested to that, though how he earned them was classified and likely involved a flight over the defunct USSR.

By contrast, Major Meyer only wore his badges and purple heart on his uniform, avoiding wearing his attendance medals and undeserved Medal of Honor when he could. The badges were as followed, Second Class Diver, Rifle Marksman, and Pistol Marksman. Major Dole was going to have to have a run on the assault course along with his attachment of Airmen.

To his credit, Major Gregory Dole took Major Meyer's criticism for what it was rather than a personal attack on his capability.

Moving to their assigned ride, Major Meyer pulled out his briefing papers while a Sergeant drove him and the USAF Major to their assignment.

"According to these, you analyzed Sailor Mercury's goggles for possible reverse engineering purposes based on our own independent research into holographic visor displays."

"Yes, that is correct, but more than that, those goggles of hers could revolutionize our entire way of making war. We've just barely tapped into its potential in our debriefing sessions with Sailor Mercury and even she was shocked at the capabilities of it once we began cataloging its functions. Colonel Abram and Halverston had to restrain me from slapping sense into that girl for having such a powerful combat tool and not utilizing it to its fullest. We were all further shocked to learn the other scouts didn't have it despite the goggles being capable of wireless broadband communication on the Solar System Scale! Its that fucking powerful. Hell we were able to access the Pioneer Probes and hack the Pentagon's secure files despite it not having an outside connection!"

"Shit, it sounds like they could have been ten time more effective if they all had those goggles."

"Hell more than that. I accessed its memory files from her supercomputer, which is another wonder all itself. It was able to keep track of where rounds were being fired, artillery projectiles landing zones with associated blast zones, fragmentary zones, best cover, ect. Hell had you had it, you could have used the information it gave to instantly correct the firing solution with GPS ammo for optimum effectiveness. It also would have told you where a sniper was in an engagement with a human foe and kept tract of multiple targets and a shitload of other data. The boys back at the Pentagon and in the new Japanese War Office are going crazy over those goggles and are sending several Generals over to take over the debriefings. Already fights are breaking out over who should have first crack at her. They want those capabilities and they don't care if they leave Mercury a dried out husk to get them."

"Damn, poor girl, I hear she is suffering from PTSD."

"Yeah, Doctor Naru Ieyasu is currently treating her. The other scouts medical files are in there as well."

"Mamoru Chiba I see has joined the Airforce, and his debriefing is classified."

"Yeah, I know as much as you do. The Japanese handled him exclusively and have revealed little as far as I know."

"Well Major, it looks like we have our work cut out for us while we build our unit."

…...

Rei was reading the newspaper her Grandpa had brought her. Makoto was helping Hotaru adjust her training bra, while Michiru and Haruka kept to themselves as usual. The two outer scouts had said very little since they came here and refused to answer any of the questions put forth to them. Nor would they explain their hostility to Hotaru who never once raised her voice and was incredibly shy and embarrassed to be amongst the others as she found herself going through normal changes of going from child to teenager.

Quite frankly, Rei was getting sick of it. "Oi, are you two ever going to get the sticks out of your asses or do we need to petition to have you two kicked out for lowering morale!"

Haruka and Michiru ignored her.

"Thats it," Rei said as she grabbed her glass of water and flung its contents at the two scouts, catching them by surprise.

"What the hell was that for," They both managed to state at the same time, while Makoto and Hotaru wisely decided to step out of the way.

"For being jerks to us and Hotaru. What did she even do to you?" Rei tore into the two.

"You inner scouts have no clue as to what is at stake or how to handle yourselves." Haruka sneered.

"Really now, seeing as you're in the same boat as us and endured the attention of that pervert masquerading as a doctor, you're one to talk." Rei pointed out with relish as they turned beet red at being reminded of their predicament and assigned doctor and most especially the humiliating exam he put them all through when they got here.

But only momentarily before they threw their pillows at Rei. It was on then.

When Minako entered the room a few minutes later with Artemis on her shoulder, it was to a scene of tangled limbs and pulled hair among Makoto, Rei, Michiru, and Haruka with Hotaru in a corner scared out of her wits.

"What in the world are you children doing," Artemis asked the tangled girls.

"She started it," was the reply to the sweatdropping Minako and Artemis.

"Well I guess, we'll take Hotaru with us then, while you four sort each other out." Minako spoke as she grabbed Hotaru and fled the room.

The sound of resumed fighting could be heard yet again by the retreating trio.

Once they were far enough away, Minako spoke to Hotaru. "As I about to announce to everyone, our restrictions were lifted and we have free run of this floor. We even have a giant Rec room with all sorts of games. What do you say we play some Sailor V."

At Hotaru's shy nod they continued on their way while several loud crashes could be heard from their room followed by some of the MPs moving in to break up the fight.

…...

Major Meyer gave the four battered sailor scouts before him a firm stare from behind his desk. He had just got in and already he had this dropped on his lap.

"I don't know or care what your problems with each other are, but they are going to cease. I do not appreciate having to deal with your problems after being awake for twenty hours straight already and I have five more additional hours of administrative work I have to deal with before I can go to sleep for three hours followed closely by a briefing. So here is what I am going to have you do. Each of you is going to get cleaning supplies and clean the entire floor of this level and I want it to shine. And there will be no further cat fights or I will find even more unpleasant jobs for you to do, now get out of my office."

The girls all but fled his office. Turning to Gunny Jaeger, Major Meyer motioned him to update him.

"Captain Jordan is putting our combat component through a series of live fire exercises. The Lieutenants are rather green with only First Lieutenant Killjoy having any combat experience. They'll be fully ready in five weeks. Our Administrative Staff is starting to clear customs and will be set up tonight. First Sergeant Clarence is being medically retired with his discovered cancer. First Sergeant Franklin Hammerstedt has been assigned to replace him and will parachute land later tonight as the C-130 he is on passes by on its way to Okinawa."

"He'll be jumping onto the roof?"

"Apparently so. The new chutes they developed allow such a thing to be done."

"Ok, in any case hand me those requisition forms so I can sign them and get me a laptop please. I was suppose to get one before I arrived but a mixup by the Quartermaster sent it to a squid in the arctic who isn't authorized one."

"SNAFU, sometimes I wonder what miracle keeps it from getting worse."

With that Major Meyer started signing orders, reading reports and recording the day in his unit diary.

…...

Queen Beryl was pleased at the new look of her legions of terror. The corrupted human sergeant had really turned around how they looked and acted pretty damn quick. Jaedite had recently secured some additional help and shipments of human weapons. Beryl knew she had a long way to go yet before she could take on the human military in a direct engagement, but as soon as possible, she intended to begin waging asymmetrical warfare against humanity to allow her forces some experience.

A yawn told her that Christine was falling asleep besides her. Though it pained her to be nice and coddling to the five year old brat, the rules were clear and if she wanted victory, she had best follow them by taking proper care of her five year old advisor. Picking the sleepy girl up, Beryl headed off to her chambers for the night as SSGT Ermey punished yet another youma for poor firearms safety along with everyone else.

…...

Usagi stood on a beach naked with only her wings to cover her as she stared at the shining golden warrior before her.

In the time she had spent here, Usagi had seen worlds destroyed, perverted, and consumed. Armies of mighty heroes smashing themselves against walls of depravity that was chaos. This warrior had fought amongst them at one time, but pride and arrogance had undone him and the empire he built was slowly dieing a death of a thousand cuts.

Beyond the Immortal Emperor a great darkness was encroaching on him, ready to engulf him and his empire. Within that darkness lurked pure chaos that did not need to manifest itself in avatars, but could do so openly. As Usagi stared further into it, hands pointed towards her and voices laughed in sadistic glee while others invited her to join their loving family.

But Usagi stood her ground, refusing to run. So did the Immortal Emperor.

"You must prepare, no matter the hardships." With that the Immortal Emperor charged the darkness, beating it back.

…...

There was a beeping noise as Usagi opened her eyes. She noticed her mom and Luna sleeping next to her and tried to speak, but only a faint muffled sound could get out. Usagi was confused as her wits tried to return and she tried to lick her chafe lips only to hit some sort of plastic tube. As her awareness got better, Usagi started to freak at all the medical equipment she was hooked on. Mercifully a nurse entered just then and noticed she was awake.

"Doctor! The patient is awake!"

The nurse's voice awoke Ikuko and Luna who immediately tried to calm down Usagi.

…...

Major Meyer was about to get some quality rack time before heading out for a field exercise with his command in the morning when his phone rang.

"Major Meyer here."

"Major, you asked to be informed when Sleeping Beauty awoke from her coma."

"Thank you, I'll be sending the Sailor Scouts up." hanging up the phone, Major Meyer immediately dialed his direct superior, Major General Joshua Valensuela while using his cell phone to page First Sergeant Hammerstedt.

"General Valensuela here," came a sleepy sounding voice.

"Sleeping Beauty is awake."

"I'll inform the Commandant." There was a click.

…...

The nurse's aide was taking away the feeding tube and intubation tube while an orderly wheeled out the ventilator when the Sailor Scouts, who were rubbing sleep from their eyes considering it was midnight, arrived.

About ten minutes ago they were awoken by Gunny Jaeger. They first met Gunny three days ago when he was introduced as their physical fitness instructor by Major Meyer. Since then they learned that Usagi had also arrived here.

Now for the first time in three weeks, they got to see Usagi. Usagi for her part waved to them from her bed where she was petting a purring Luna on her lap while her mother was fixing her hair back into her patented Odango style, and her father and brother were nearby fighting sleep.

"Hey guys, what did I miss?"

"Well Usagi, its like this," Rei started.

…...

"Well Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Dole, it was a pleasure for the seven days while you were here, good luck with the 304th Nuclear Bombardment Wing at Area 51," Major Meyer informed the newly minted Colonel who was beaming at getting his fondest wish of commanding a Bomber Wing.

"Pleasure is mine, just remember, Danger Close when you call me for aid." The Colonel announced as he left.

"I'll remember." Turning to his replacement FAC, USAF Captain Jeremy White, Major Meyer moved on. "Well your records state you come from First Special Operations Wing and you have Marksman Qualification on a rifle. Thats good, you'll also in addition be taking over the USAF's debriefing of Sailor Mercury while the top brass finish killing each other over who gets Mercury. Try not to break her, it would have unfortunate effects in the other scouts cooperation. Remember, she is still a fourteen year old girl and she has been diagnosed with PTSD."

"Yes sir, I am given to understand that Colonel Halverston has partial control over the scouts as well."

"Yes, a lot of people have partial control over the scouts, mainly because the top brass just can't agree on who gets them. Till about a month ago they were just incompetent vigilantes fighting what was thought to be a small incompetent terrorist organization. Now we realized differently and the aftershocks and consequences are still hitting hard. Especially with regard to Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn's father. Top Brass slapped so many layers of security around him that it isn't funny. Mercury has her goggles and mini super computer with eighty billion times the computational power of the world's combined computing power, Usagi/Serenity has Goddess like powers which nearly killed her, Rei/Mars is the Prime Minister's daughter, ect. Ultimately its come down to fear, the brass doesn't like being blindsided like this and calls for heads to roll over the massive intelligence failure keep growing and claiming more victims."

"Major Meyer! I heard you are back and I want to speak to you!" A loud high pitched voice sounded out in the hall followed by First Sergeant Hammerstedt's own voice.

"Well Captain, we'll talk later, I have yet another headache to deal with before I can hit my rack. First Sergeant, send her in." Meyer ordered resignedly after spending the past few days with little sleep.

Within moments, Major Meyer was greeted by the sight of Usagi Tsukino who was currently enraged. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Major Meyer motioned to a chair in front of his desk as he pulled a locked box out of his desk that he had been told to open for her. "Your crystal is in her though its embedded somehow into a gold heart and crescent moon compact."

That stopped Usagi cold. "Give me that," she shouted as she grabbed the compact as quickly as he opened the box. Placing the compact on the silly bow she wore on her school shirt, she turned her glare back towards him.

"You aren't bribing me that easily. I'm telling you right now to back off of Ami or," standing up Usagi struck her normal speech pose, "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you."

Major Meyer looked at her as if she was crazy. "First off, I don't control that, hell my supposed command over you is ill defined and practically none-existent. I simply handle the unpleasant tasks others don't want to be sullied with so they can look good. As for you and your friends aside from this current conversation, I have had minimal contact. I spend most of my time trying to run my company and it is a hundred hour job a week just to keep over two hundred men under my command fully clothed, fed, and in the proper equipment, not counting time I spend training and doing other tasks such as my own military coursework. Your friend Ami by contrast spends about six hours a week being "pestered" about her goggles and computer, granted that is more than the rest of your friends debriefing times, its only because her goggles and supercomputer are considered too big of a security risk to be allowed out."

Usagi had the decency to blush in embarrassment. Which lasted all of three seconds before she sat back down in a huff before giving the evil eye and sticking her tongue out at Major Meyer.

"If that is all, I really like to get some sleep and I do believe you will be late for class."

Usagi shrieked at the mention of class and ran out of the room.

Shaking his head, Major Meyer tried to reconcile the immature but sincere airhead with the Goddess he saw little over a month ago. While he was grateful for the fact he didn't have half his body burnt off, he wouldn't go as far as to worship her as many others were doing.

Then there was a rumored conversation Usagi had with General Hideki Toga of the newly christened Imperial Japanese Army about some threat in the future. With it came authorization for soldiers to wear devotional prayer papers called Ofudas on their uniforms. Why was never stated.

"Jordan hurry up with the training, I'm dieing under all this paperwork, and god if you are listening spare me this teenage nonsense" Major Meyer said to himself as he went to his rack for some sleep.

…...

The freight train noises of artillery rounds flying through the air and airbursting was a familiar sound to Sailor Mercury. But this time Colonel Halverston, and twelve General/Admirals from the Japanese and American Military were watching this with her on the firing range located just north of Misawa Airforce Base. More accurately they were observing her goggles as it tracked multiple shells coming in and taking notes as yet more people studied her computer readouts.

"Want to give this next round a try Ami?"

Colonel Halverston surprised Ami with the question as he held out the radio he was using to direct the artillery.

"I never done this before, Colonel."

"I'll walk you through it, besides you'll have an easier time than me as your goggles combine all the tools I use and give much more accurate measurements. Roger, give her back the computer so she can update directly the main fire control computers."

Taking the handset and her computer, Mercury looked through her goggles and allowed her goggles to immediately initiate its targeting functions she recently discovered with the help of Lt. Col. Dole. Pulling up the network menu on her computer, Mercury connected the information on her goggles directly to the main fire control computer for the 11th Marine Regiment. "Okay I'm in and updated the position of those tanks, now what?"

"Alright, inform Cocker Six to tell the batteries to load GPS Rounds. Your callsign is Mercury six by the way."

"Cocker six, this is Mercury six, load GPS rounds. Over"

"Roger Mercury six, Cocker six out."

"Alright Ami, now give them the order to fire."

Mercury did so and the General/Admirals were greeted with the sight of 48 shells impacting all 48 rusted out tanks and destroying them. Already gears were turning in their heads on how to exploit those capabilities in the next generation of artillery and close air support. All at once they started speaking in excited tones over the contracts that were to come and how to cash in, one of them, an U.S. Army General was stating they should come back next week for an Apache shoot off.

But Ami had already turn them out and sat against the sand berm they were observing from, detransforming as she did so. This was not how she envisioned her powers being used and the thought that she was helping these men find better ways to kill people scared her. Even Colonel Halverston was caught up in the moment with his superiors.

'Usagi, I know why we have to do this, but I can't keep doing this. I can't keep helping them to find better ways to kill people.' Ami stood up and stared angrily at the toasting men before her.

"I just wish for once, you would see me as a girl and just stare at my chest!"

All of the General/Admirals and Colonel Halverston were in the middle of a toast and swallowed wrong when Ami said that. They promptly fought to end their coughing, pounding each other on the back to clear out the fluid from their lungs.

Ami for her part, realizing she said that out loud, finally broke down and began laughing hysterically at the sight before her, while shocked technicians looked on before they too began laughing.

…...

"You wished to see me sir?"

"Ah yes, come in Cadet Chiba."

Mamoru Chiba stood at attention in front of General Oda Yoshi's desk and waited for him to speak.

"I must say Cadet Chiba that you continue to surprise me at how quickly you grasp basic flight principles that took me three years to master. And I was top of my class!" Chuckling for a moment the General moved on, "I'm authorizing you to begin flying in T-4 trainers. Dismissed."

Turning on his heel as he had drilled into him, Mamoru left the room to write a letter to Usagi. For a while he found it odd juggling the various personalities and memories he had, it was getting easier and easier to keep them separate and just be him. Of course if he didn't the consequences would be dire. His future self had warned him of what was to come, just as Usagi's future self had warned her in her own way. War was coming, a war that would rip the Galaxy apart as it had so many others and was still doing to yet more. If it was to be successfully fended off, they were going to have to build a Space Force capable of taking the fight to the enemy and transporting the men and equipment needed to contain the threat and protect the colonies in space that would be established.

And in turn, he would have to know how to manage such a force, which was why he was here.

…...

Queen Beryl inspected her army. Where before they would have been in a ragged mob before her holding a mismatch of armor and weapons, they now stood in disciplined ranks. They wore standardized uniforms with clear plexiglas visors as per the EOR. Their weapons were standardized human small arms plus man portable heavy weapons. Jaedite was busy securing trucks with which to mount heavy weaponry on and haul rockets. Now if only she could come up with a secure code Christine couldn't crack in 30 seconds.

"General Ermey, how long till my legions can strike at the world?" Queen Beryl asked her newly minted General.

"Another eight weeks of basic training and six weeks of small unit training. Then we can start warming up against the banana republics of Africa."

"Very well, speed things up if you can, I want to eliminate the scouts as fast as possible."

"I'll do all I can my Queen."

Taking her leave, Queen Beryl left to check on Christine, she had left the five year old in her chambers to take a nap and she was no doubt awake now and liable to begin messing with her makeup again if Beryl didn't find her something else to do quickly. Who ever would thought five year olds could be so much trouble, useful advisor or no.

…...

General David Hackworth read the report into SSGT Lee Ermey's Kidnapping Investigation. A captured Negaverse operative in France alerted them to the fact that the former Marine Drill Instructor was brainwashed into serving that hidden kingdom was disturbing. Granted it was Vietnam era training techniques, it was still a massive improvement over the Negaverse's old methods which were utterly medieval. Then there was the disturbing collection of firearms on the open market by the Negaverse.

Taking a swig of his coffee, Hackworth moved on to his latest reform proposal. This one would certainly bring the house down, but in his mind it was necessary. The complete merger of all services into a single combined entity or as close to it as possible. The current system was too bloated and full of infighting with wasteful duplications and turf wars. Did America really need four Airforces? The Army, Navy, and Marines each had their own in addition to the USAF and used completely different aircraft to boot. And god forbid anyone reminding him of the Air National Guard.

Pulling out the files on the sailor scouts and their associates, Hackworth examined the latest information. Apparently Professor Tomoe, and the five female assistants he employed, had been in contact with another Alien Civilization that was hostile. The professor had secured it services to save his daughter's life but had paid a terrible price in possession. Freed by Serenity, he was now helping DARPA and the Japanese War Ministry reverse engineer the technology he had managed to gain from this civilization.

Another item was an order to allow the Apollo 17 crew access to Serenity's avatar Usagi Tsukino to try and pry out secrets regarding the ancient Moon Kingdom. By the time General Hackworth finished all the paperwork, it was 1:00 in the morning and he promptly went to bed.

…...

"Mars, Flame Sniper!"

"Venus, Love and Beauty Shock"

Both scouts missed their targets 500 yards out, while marines and sailors on either side of them were consistently hitting theirs in the rapid fire part of their evaluations at that range. To add insult to injury, they were doing so with their bayonets fixed and the sun shining in their eyes! The scouts fought most battles at 20 yards or less with few fights beyond that and accuracy was something they never trained for.

"Try again girls." Captain Jordan told them as he marked their score down in his ledger.

"What is the point of this captain, humiliating us?" Mars snapped at the captain.

"Yeah, after all what foe would fight at this range and beyond?" Venus added.

"A smart one such as me," Captain Jordan stated, emphasizing his point by pointing at his expert rifleman badge. "Plus if you are going to be working with us, you will meet minimum standards of accuracy at this range with your attacks, contrived as they are. And believe me when I say that it gets a lot harder to hit a target that moves and shoots back."

The two scouts sighed in defeat as it came clear they were hopelessly outmatched here. Their attacks simply weren't up to a long ranged, fluid, rapid, and sustained fight as these marines and sailors trained for. Every moment they spent on this range drove home that point ever more painfully as the marines and sailors outperformed them at ranges they never thought they would be fighting at and in positions they couldn't use as their attacks wouldn't work otherwise.

"Venus, Crescent Beam!" Venus shouted as she went back to her old attack and walked the beam into the target, cutting it in half.

"There you go, try a different attack if the current one isn't making the grade Mars." Captain Jordan instructed.

"Fine, Burning Mandala!" A series of flaming discs slammed into Mars' target like a shotgun blast and burnt it to a crisp and some went so wide they slammed into Major Meyer's target as well.

"Check fire, check fire, know your target and what is around it and behind it!" Major Meyer shouted from where he was shooting.

"Strike that, go back to Flame Sniper Mars." Captain Jordan ordered.

Giving a frustrated growl, Mars did so and missed yet again as the others on the range tallied their scores and began leaving to practice on the live fire obstacle course three miles away, leaving the range to the scouts and Captain Jordan.

"Alright, lets restart the range again at 200 yards, you can do this, just concentrate..."

"Oh buzz off, we have been at this for an hour and our heels are killing us." Mars snapped.

"Then wear more suitable footwear, not my fault you got the wrong..."

"We don't control what we get when we transform." Venus pointed out.

"Still not my problem. Take off your high heels and get back to shooting. We will be here till chow time if necessary girls, if that is what it takes to get proper accuracy if not speed at 200 yards at least."

Grumbling the two scouts kicked off their heels and walked to the two hundred yard line, wondering why they volunteered for this. So far they were only being humiliated and providing further fuel to the often stated, though never where they were thought to be listening, incompetence view of them. A view they were desperately trying to shake.

…...

Colonel Halverston, Mercury, Luna, Artemis, and Princess Serenity were working together on replicating Mercury's goggles for the rest of the scouts. Sailor Jupiter and Uranus had agreed to be a volunteer for the first trial pairs, but so far they were getting nowhere with the targeting functions.

"Alright, we got height to display correctly, but speed and direction are not, Artemis, punch in the telemetry from my goggles for the model plane the Colonel is operating and hopefully the pipper will work." Mercury spoke.

"Mercury, call it a day, night is falling and I'm hungry," Serenity spoke up.

Mercury slumped in defeat.

"Cheer up Mercury, as now we know it can be done." The now Eternal Sailor Moon reassured her fellow scout as Jupiter and Uranus touched their earrings to dispel their goggles.

"Yeah, you've been going all out to program the goggles once Serenity made them," Jupiter added.

"Besides, it will take a while for your friends to get used to all the new functions the goggles do as well as training to use them effectively. You are looking at a long term project Ami." Colonel Halverston added.

The others spoke up as well, causing Mercury to blush at the praise as they exited the roof.

Dinner was an interesting affair, Hotaru was visiting her father at another facility, Neptune had to endure a full physical exam ordered by the Government and was venting all of the outrages she had to endure at Haruka as she stabbed her food in anger. Rei and Minako were sullen and downtrodden as they ate and upon being asked why by Usagi, wailed at how humiliated they been on the firing range and now they were the laughingstock of Golf Company.

When Usagi suggested that perhaps they should learn to shoot guns, all the adults in the room managed to say at once, "No!" Causing Usagi to shrink back.

Colonel Halverston clarified to sweatdropping sailor scouts, "Everyone of you scouts failed the firearms safety test. How, I have no clue as illiterate African Child Soldiers have more firearms safety drilled into their heads then you do. No way in hell am I handing out civilian grade, much less military grade firearms to you guys for fear you may seriously injure or kill yourselves."

All the sailor scouts sighed and went back to eating after being reminded of that test.

…...

Major Meyer kicked back in his chair and read of General Hackworth's latest round of culls. A Lt. Col. David Petraeus was kicked out of the Army for an essay he wrote as a Major, claiming the U.S. never lost a fight in Vietnam. 'Ouch, did the idiot not hear of Battle for LZ Albany, Battle for Hill 861, Kingfisher Battle near Con Thien, Ambush at Hoc Mon, Battle of Kham Duc, Battle of the Slopes, Battle of Dai Do, Battle of Ong Thanh, Battle of Two July, Battle for Firebase Mary Ann, and Battle of Lang Vei just to name a few? Idiot got what he deserved, who knows what damage he could have done if he continued on? Has to be the worse case of 'can't remember shit' ever.'

"Major, Mrs. Tsukino is requesting to see you." First Sergeant Hammerstedt paged.

"Send her in."

Ikuko Tsukino walked in with a sheet of paper and sat down with Major Meyer's leave, "What can I do for you Ikuko?"

"I need you to sign this so I and Mrs. Aino can go shopping for the girls as Captain Horten is on leave."

"Alright," Meyer said as he signed the order. "Everything all right with your family accommodations? I know this hasn't exactly been ideal here, but we are trying our best to return the girls to some sort of normalcy."

Ikuko laughed, "Things were never normal with Usagi even before I with confronted with the knowledge of my daughter's alter ego."

"Surely you knew. All she did was change outfits."

"Would you want to face the shame that would come from openly acknowledging that your daughter is a vigilante?"

"Considering the security footage I've seen of some of those fights, yes. In a heartbeat as it beats them getting killed."

Ikuko turned beet red, "No one was ever killed till you Americans stepped in."

"Does that in anyway justify not acting in the best interest of your daughter or indicate they would not have died if they continued?"

Ikuko stood up, "Thank you for your time," Bowing Ikuko then left.

Major Meyer decided that it was time to get his 20 page essay on the Battle of Seelow Heights written and pulled out his notes, reconnaissance photos on loan from the USAF, 3rd Shock Army's unit diary, and his laptop. He was on his fifth page, when he felt a presence behind him. Without thinking, he stood ramrod straight and threw his arms over his shoulders. Upon feeling his target, Meyer grabbed and lifted the person behind him and threw this person over him and into the desk, breaking it in half. Still going on instinct, Major Meyer dropped down and delivered a vicious right hook into the face of his unwelcome guest.

…...

Sailor Pluto felt light headed as she tried to remember where she was. As Pluto continued to come to, she tried to move her arm to rub the sleep from her eye only to find she couldn't move it far as if it was being restrained. Waking fully, she saw that her arms were restrained to the railings of her bed, her nose was in a caste plus an oxygen mask over her face, and she had a hose sticking out of her side indicative of a collapsed lung. Her Henshin stick was nowhere to be seen.

"Next time, use the door. I thought you were an assassin."

Pluto turned her head to the voice and spotted Major Meyer.

"I," Pluto tried to speak, but her voice was too raw.

"Well consider us even for my broken nose. Doctor remove the restraints and alert the Sailor Scouts to their friend's appearance."

…...

"Wait you can't go in..."

"You bastard!" 'SMACK!'

"Ow! What the fuck was that for Usagi!" Major Meyer shouted as he caught Usagi's return swing and twisted her arm to bring her down to a manageable level as Lieutenant General Kyudo Osaka and Lieutenant General Hiram Black looked on in shock at being disturbed.

"You hurt Setsuna as she was trying to deliver a message you big bully!"

"I don't have time for this nonesense, First Sergeant get this girl out of here where she can calm down."

"Yes sir, sorry sirs, she just rushed right past me." FSGT Hammerstedt spoke as he threw a still struggling and cursing Usagi over his shoulder and left the room.

"As I was saying sirs, we will then enter the compound via the sewer pipe here, schematics has shown it is navigable all the way into the compound. Once in we will then proceed to recover the informant and exfiltrate the same way we came in, blowing the sewer pipe behind us. Extraction will be by Helicopters as JAF F-4s blow the compound to hell."

"Perfectly acceptable and I apologize for springing this mission on you on such short notice, but it is important we shut down this Death Buster operation immediately and your unit is the only available one at this time. You go in five hours," General Black informed the Major.

"Remember, once in, you have two hours to grab Eudial before my F-4s level the place," General Osaka added.

"I'll leave at once."

…...

"Lock and load!" FSGT Hammerstedt shouted as the C-130 made its approach.

"No matter what, we have two hours, if you are squad size and no one else appears, carry out the mission. Good luck Marines." Major Meyer shouted as everyone in third platoon made final equipment checks with the new T-21 parachute system developed and tested by Captain Micheal Sparks for the U.S. Army.

A vast improvement over the old WW2 era jump equipment, Captain Sparks had taken the basic Russian VDV D-6 system and made some improvements. No more D-Rings slowing down the plane, and no more scattering all over the damn place.

This was precision high speed jumping and soon as the jump master gave the okay, Major Meyer was out the door and and carried away by the slipstream as his drogue chute opened. A few seconds later, his main chute was pulled open and he began his four minute glide to Hashima Island.

The Death Busters had chosen well for a hidden base. Though Major Meyer was not told who the Death Busters were, he had been informed that these foes were stronger than youma and caution should be exercised. If it weren't for this Eudial, the Island would have just been bombed and mop up done by the Japanese Navy.

…...

Though Pluto was far away and unable to speak much, she was still able to see the operation. She had tried to warn them about the trap, but she had failed. Usagi had been too enraged by her condition to listen and had stormed off before she could warn them. Now it was too late.

'Selene protect them.'

…...

Major Meyer noticed the tell tale flash of a missile being launched and knew the shit had hit the fan. "Abort, Abort, we've been had!" Major Meyer screamed into his mike so the three other planes carrying the rest of his company could wave off.

There was a massive boom as the C-130 took a hit right into the wing root. The massive wing sheared off and the bird heeled over and began breaking apart.

Across the island, heavy machine guns and directed energy weapons began opening up on third platoon. In the center of the island, a massive energy wall flared up into the sky. However, unlike their grandfathers who had to endure the fire till they landed, the new chutes allowed them to return fire and 5.56mm, 7.62mm, and 40mm rounds began answering the defenders. Here and there secondary explosions indicated that 40mm rounds had hit something vital.

As much as Major Meyer would have liked to join the shooting he had to inform his superiors of the situation if he was to even begin the process of getting his men out of this. Lieutenant Krandall could direct this fight, "This is Golf Six, Jackie went into the drink, under heavy weapons fire, massive wall of energy shooting into the sky. Assume mission failure, requesting extraction."

"Golf Six, as soon as you land, dive deep and swim as fast as you can away from the island, we are going to nuke it."

"Roger! Everyone, as soon as you touch down, stay under water as deep as you can and swim as fast as you can away from the island, incoming nuclear ordinance!"

…...

Colonel Halverston raced down the corridor to the scouts' dorm. Though they were more likely than not to be in the middle of getting dressed for the day, he had no time for their modesty if he was to calculate an optimum 15 kiloton detonation in a way to ensure a kill and at the same time not kill Major Meyer's team. To do that he needed Ami's computer and he had less than thirty minutes.

Reaching the door, he threw it open and was immediately greeted by screams of pervert and various female grooming supplies. Wading through the hailstorm of various hairbrushes, lotions, and other items, Colonel Halverston spotted a shocked, blushing Ami in the process of snapping on her bra and moved towards her. "Ami, Major Meyer's team is pinned down and we need to use your computer to calculate a nuclear strike on an alien foothold on Hashima Island to get his team out without killing them in the process or throwing debris on Nagasaki."

That got everyone's attention and the atmosphere changed dramatically in the room as several angry, half naked teenagers including Ami stared at and towered over a sweatdropping Colonel Halverston in shocked anger and hostility.

…...

Major Meyer felt the mother of all speed bumps as he slammed into the water. Hitting his quick release snaps, Meyer shed his parachutes and dived deep and began swimming away from Hashima Island. The water itself would protect him from bullets, but the enemy had begun shooting mortars into the water as he began to near the water. Those would be killers and he still had yet to get a count of his dead so far.

He knew third and the detachment from his signals platoon had all managed to jump before Jackie was hit. Meyer had seen ten of his men going down dead or without a chute as it been shot off. But the fog of war prevented him from learning more. All he could do was hope his message got out to swim away from the island and the extraction chopters and ships would be on point.

'I wonder who screwed up on the intel this time.'

…...

Ami slammed her computer into Colonel Halverston's chest and stalked off with the scouts, throwing her dress on and weeping as she did so. Halverston hit the ɤ key to transmit the target data to the USS Chicago.

…...

From the Philippine Sea a BGM-109A with a W80 warhead rose from the surface, preceded by 14 BGM-109Ds. Later on President Clinton would have to deal with the Russian President screaming at him over violating the SALT agreements, but that would be later.

Total flight time would be just over two hours to the target.

Twenty three JAF F-4s would hit first from 40,000 feet with full bomb loads of eighteen Mark 82 bombs. Much of the surface of Hashima Island was reduced to rubble and stopped the shelling of the water by the Death Busters.

Ten minutes later as Death Buster personnel started to come out of the rubble to repel an expected follow up assault, the BGM-109Ds came over the island, dropping their submunitions and killing any exposed Daimons and their hired mercenaries.

Then came the BGM-109A. Arcing up, it climbed in a steep angle and detonated at 5,000 feet above the center of the island with a fifteen kiloton blast as indicated by Ami's calculations. The tenuous link Pharaoh 90 had to the planet was shattered instantly and the portal he had been attempting to use was destroyed along with him. The island itself was baked to a crisp, but thanks to Ami's targeting, a more drastic solution of a ground burst, with the potential of setting off the abandoned underground coal mines, was averted.

…...

"I say again, we have found thirty survivors, divers are in the water."

The early morning sky was full of rescue choppers and boats. Major Meyer was swimming around his command, getting an assessment of who lived, who died, and who was unaccounted for. Already he had lost men to hypothermia and he himself was slowly losing the fight with it. As he was checking yet another body for the second time, he felt hands grab him.

"Sir, we have to get you out of here, you're pale as hell and you're turning blue!" A navy rescue diver informed him.

"I haven't found all my men yet!" Major Meyer snapped as he tried to break free by punching at the diver.

"We'll get them sir, but you have to get out now! Jerry help me!"

Against his will, Major Meyer was hoisted aboard a rescue boat.

…...

Colonel Halverston found Ami weeping in the newly opened Garden Concourse amongst the miniature cherry blossom trees with Usagi. Setting Ami's computer down on their bench he addressed them.

"I'm paid to kill people. Some actually enjoy that fact and revel in the thought of killing and maiming. Not me, I hate war, it is pointless and leaves nothing but tears. But, I have a duty to defend against the enemies of the state and accomplishing that mission requires that I use all available resources to bring the conflict to a speedy conclusion because it kills less people in the long run."

"So the ends justify the means," Usagi asked.

Colonel Halverston didn't answer and left.

…...

It had been six months since Captain Chiba had joined the Airforce. In that time he continued to amaze his superiors in how quickly he could grasp the concepts and procedures of flight and he had been breezing through training. Part of it was his own skill and part of it was from his own future self's training.

As he stood at attention awaiting for to be officially commissioned, he spared a glance at Princess Serenity. Aside from letters, he had had little contact with her in six months. While at first her letters had been rather upbeat despite her acknowledged hardships, they had turned bitter since the nuclear detonation over Hashima Island a month ago. Now he would have this night with her to try and soothe some of the pain she had been dealing with.

The other scouts were also present as well in formal gowns with an escort each.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Prime Minister, Urawa Hino," The Sergeant Major of the Imperial Japanese Airforce announced.

The national anthem was played as the Prime Minister entered. He spoke at length for an hour with patriotic platitudes. Urawa then went on to administer the oath to Captain Chiba and twenty others followed by airforce sergeants issuing them their sidearms.

Then Serenity and the others' families were allowed to approach with their rank insignia. Catching Serenity's eyes, Mamoru smiled and was delighted that her gloomy expression cleared enough to smile back as she pinned his new rank insignia of a bar and triangular arrangement of three stars above the bar onto his uniform while her mother held his garrison cap and her father took pictures. Usagi's Father didn't seem too thrilled about all this, considering he was totally against his daughter 'dating a loser like Mamoru' to use his words.

After everyone had their insignia pinned, they went through the rendering of the salute ceremony.

After which the accompanying Ball began.

"May I have this dance Princess Serenity," Mamoru was finally able to ask.

Serenity's face lit up again with joy, "Yes, I missed you my love."

There was a loud bop behind them as Ikuko preempted her husband's objection before dragging him away with a smile and a wave to the sweatdropping Mamoru and Serenity.

Returning to dancing, Usagi turned to Mamoru to ask a question she dreaded the answer to. "You'll be deploying soon?"

"Yes, the Negaverse has ceased its raids in Africa and are wreaking havoc in the Hida Mountains near Nagano."

"How bad is it, they haven't been very forthcoming?"

"The Third Division is getting chewed up and the American's Tenth Mountain Division is en route to reinforce the clearing operations along with the Marines already stationed here."

"What of the civilians? They never once been mentioned."

Mamoru didn't answer, though the haunted look in his eyes betrayed the gravity of the carnage.

"Mamoru, please, how many?"

"Five thousand dead or missing, thirteen thousand wounded, thirty thousand have fled the area in the past three days."

Serenity gasped and tears began to fill her eyes. Mamoru pulled her close and led her to the balcony out of sight of the revelers.

…...

On the other side of the Ballroom Major Meyer stood in his Blue Dress "A". Six months ago he would have worn an Evening Dress "A". But General Hackworth had cracked down on the wanton waste of money spent on various uniforms. This restricted all services to one combat uniform to be used for all field training and PT training plus regular business, one dress or a service uniform for formal occasions, and he banned the tie from all uniforms for being a health hazard and for being a frivolous waste of cloth.

Considering the occasion he had no choice but to wear his undeserved Medal of Honor, but the new regulations allowed Meyer to wear his badges alongside his medals which included his attendance medals. The Mameluke sword on the other hand felt odd on him. He could only recall wearing it on three other occasions and practiced swinging it once to test its balance upon first being issued it.

However, it was nothing compared to his "date", Sailor Pluto/Setsuna, one of these days Meyer would find out who hated him and get back at them.

"You're tense Major," Setsuna spoke up.

Turning to look at the scout, Major Meyer answered, "I'm heading out in two days with the Third MEF to clean out the Negaverse from the Hida Range. Any warnings you would like to give?"

"Soon the Phoenix will fall, I can not say anything further," Setsuna answered.

"What nonsense are you babbling about?"

"I'm sorry, but that is all I can see, even my future self refuses to explain more, but it is a time of great sadness," Setsuna explained.

"Wait..." Major Meyer stopped as his superior, Lieutenant General Curtis Nigel, approached and Setsuna took the opportunity to leave.

"Major, I've seen that you don't quit no matter what and I have come to admire your drive."

"Sir, are you prepositioning me for a ticket punching assignment?" Meyer asked immediately suspicious of the General's intentions.

General Nigel smiled, "Hackworth is too radical for Clinton and is doomed in his efforts. You do well to consider your career and take an opening on my G Three's staff. You could make Lieutenant Colonel in three years and if you play the game, I'll even support you in a bid for full Colonel."

"Sir. My job is to win my country's wars, not advance my career at the expense of the tax payers."

General Nigel's didn't lose its jovial grin, but his words held iron, "You don't know when to change gears for the greater good do you. You could be a General and rake in big bucks in defense contracts consultation fees, if you would only play the game."

"Sir, in two days I will fight the enemy and I will destroy them. I will accomplish the mission and see to the welfare of my men. That is the only 'game' I'll play." Meyer answered calmly.

"Enjoy the evening Major Meyer," General Nigel spoke before leaving.

"He will meet his end soon," Setsuna spoke up as she reappeared with a glass of wine for herself and one for Meyer.

Taking the glass, Meyer resumed from earlier. "Don't think that wearing a strapless gown to show off your breasts and giving me wine will deflect my mind from answers. What is the fallen Phoenix?"

Setsuna's eyes narrowed in outrage. "I did not choose this dress, Rei's father did, and no I can not tell you anymore than what I have already said. Time does not yield its secrets well and there is limits to what even I can do. Good night Major."

With that, Setsuna teleported off in a huff. Major Meyer merely drank his glass of wine and moved on to visualizing the Hida Mountains in his head. Pluto was a strange scout and proved impossible to keep under wrap so they stopped trying.

The campaign to clean out the Negaverse would be bloody as hell. Reports from Africa and the Japanese Army indicated the enemy was using modified M-14 rifles with a pistol grip. That gave them an unassailable range advantage in a fair fight and negated cover behind trees in the mountains.

Reports of SA-18s was also worrying. It looked like a full B-52 pounding was in the works.

…...

Ami felt rather self conscious in her blue strapless evening gown and stayed close to the newly promoted Brigadier General Halverston, her escort for the evening. The general was discussing with General Nishi the fallout from the Hashima disaster and the double dealing of Eudial, though most of the context was missing for her as they spoke in that peculiar brand of English she had difficulty following along with Minako who was adamant in the belief the Americans spoke a different language from the British.

Ami herself still had difficulty coming to terms with that operation. Thirty nine Marines dead and she had actually been a party to using a forbidden weapon near a city that had already faced the horror of such a weapon.

Never mind the fact it had been necessary and her calculations prevented a far worse outcome. It was the fact it even became necessary in the first place. If the military had brought them in on the threat, Sailor Moon could have defeated Pharaoh 90 without resorting to the nuclear weapon. But no, the military had viewed them as incompetent idiots and kept them out of the loop as to their operations against the threats to Earth.

With that Ami resolved to stop feeling sorry for herself and do something.

"General Halverston, may I speak to you in private," Ami asked.

"Certainly Ami, General excuse us please," Halverston answered and asked the courtesy of General Nishi.

"By all means General," General Nishi replied with a wink.

Ami couldn't help but blush at the implications of that wink. That was not why she asked for this private conversation.

"This way Ami," General Halverston spoke as he offered her his arm.

Taking it, Ami allowed the General to lead her to an alcove. "So what is on your mind Ami?"

"I'm tired of us being left out of operational planning, we scouts can..."

"No," General Halverston calmly cut off Ami.

"But..."

"No buts, Ami. People die in war. Its the inevitable truth of all wars. I'm doing you girls a favor by keeping you out of the loop. Leave the fighting to us, enjoy your safety. Besides the intel you've been providing us and the computer help have proved invaluable. We can finally begin to reverse engineer them."

Ami slumped in defeat, they weren't going to listen and the end result would be a repeat of Hashima Island. Of that she was sure. The Military wasn't ready to shake their incompetence view of them and let them help in a more meaningful way even if the enemy was adopting a modern approach.

…...

Rei was trapped in a nightmare. A Phoenix was falling from the sky towards the water. Rei felt the impact as the Phoenix hit the water and sank into its depths. From no where a male voice spoke.

"I can't tell you what the world will be like today."

The Phoenix pushed up through the water. But it seemed as if the water was a tunnel, pulling the Phoenix through its spout like an accelerator. With a final flap of its wings the Phoenix broke into orbit of the world. Rei gave a wordless scream as she noticed mushroom clouds from orbit and massive bursts of light across the surface of the world and arcing plumes of missiles.

Below the Phoenix, unknown craft streaked by, the friction of the atmosphere causing them to glow red hot. Each of them carried the Crescent Moon on their wings, that much Rei could make out. And they were heading towards the North Eastern Hemisphere.

The voice spoke again, "But can you tell me what the world will be like tomorrow?"

Rei found herself staring at a viewport of a spaceship. Through it she could see an older Serenity looking out on the carnage, weeping, while holding a small child in her arms. All the other scouts were there and all of them were holding children in their arms and weeping as well.

Endymion appeared alongside them, with an older looking Meyer, and watched the unfolding Holocaust with tears streaming down his face as he took a small computer from a stone faced Meyer. Endymion all of sudden hardened his face and pushed a button on the computer.

All across the top of the spaceship, Rei could see missile batteries deploy and turn towards the planet and open fire.

"Rei, wake up, Rei!" Rei found herself being shaken awake by a concerned Usagi surrounded by the other scouts.

"What did you see, Rei, that was no normal nightmare," Luna spoke up from Usagi's shoulder, recognizing the signs immediately.

Rei sprang out of bed immediately, "I must consult the sacred fire at Hikawa Shrine."

"How Rei, we aren't allowed out of this building, only Setsuna comes and goes as she pleases, mainly because the authorities are unable to stop her," Artemis pointed out from his perch on Minako's shoulder.

Rei slumped in defeat, before she remembered Meyer could authorize them to leave. "Major Meyer can authorize me to leave. Out of my way," Rei ordered as she raced towards the door.

"Wait Rei," The scouts tried to call out to her as she barreled down the hall.

"Its three in the morning," Artemis belatedly added.

Rei for her part barreled past several Japanese and American MPs making their rounds and hopped into an open section elevator. After arriving on the 80th Floor, she headed towards Major Meyer's Office Suite. It was only then that she remembered she was still in her nightgown. Pulling out her Henshin, "Mars Crystal Power! Makeup!"

Once her transformation was complete, Mars activated her visor, by squeezing her left earing, to see if anyone occupied the suite at the moment. Too many humiliations on Gunny Jaeger's paint ball courses had taught her that the hard way. Switching to infrared by mind impulse, Mars found to her delight that Meyer, his platoon leaders, and Hammerstedt were in so she just walked in.

"Major, I wish for a pass to return to Hikawa Shrine."

Without looking up from his 3-D map of the Hida Mountains, Major Meyer answered, "Request denied and get out, I am planning a military operation."

Sailor Mars wouldn't give up that easily though. Walking up to the map, Sailor Mars shoved aside Lieutenant Krandall and Kowalski hovered over the map causing everyone in the room to face her. "You aren't dismissing me that easily Major, I need to consult the Sacred Fire at Hikawa Shrine."

Now angered, Major Meyer signaled Lieutenants Krandall and Kowalski to grab Mars. "Mars, in thirty hours we will be leading men into combat, some of us won't be coming back, I don't have time for you or your girlfriends antics."

The mention of the fact some of them were likely going to die caused Mars to look into Major Meyer's face. It was then that she saw the strain in his eyes. Everyday he had to oversee the welfare of 267 men and their families and partially of her friends and their families.

As if recognizing that she finally understood the strain he was under, the Major's face softened. "General Halverston wakes up in a hour and a half for his morning sparring match with General Nishi. You can catch them in exercise room four B."

"Thank you Major, I will pray to the spirits of Hida to watch over your men and return the fallen home." Bowing, Mars left. For the first time Mars understood that the men of Golf Company were dying and were going to die. All the humiliations that they suffered under Gunny Jaeger's courses and once with Captain Jordan, when Jaeger was sick, were but a small taste of what they faced at the hands of human foes. Mars and her friends were truly incompetent compared to them.

"No success Mars." Luna spoke from the floor.

"No success, I'll have to wait for Halverston and Nishi," Rei answered as she detransformed.

"You're sad Rei, do you wish to talk about it?"

Picking up Luna, Rei answered, "Yes I suppose we all have something to talk about. But tell me Luna, did we not each rule our Planets respectably?"

"Yes, the Silver Millennium was a time when man lived amongst all the planets and technology was so advanced as to render what we see today as primitive though I don't recall the weapons man uses today ever being used. We were a peaceful society till Metallia arrived."

"Did we have a military?"

"Yes, we did have a Space Fleet and each planet had its own ceremonial army led by each of you scouts. But when Metallia came and corrupted Beryl and Earth, our fleet and each planet's military was destroyed in five months by a cowardly General named simply the Khan."

"How was he cowardly Luna if he defeated us?"

"Well Rei, he never once went on the line like you scouts did when leading in person your armies. He was always in the rear sending orders from the safety of his flagship. The Khan was finally killed when one of our surviving fleets managed to spring an ambush of his flagship over Saturn."

"Our defeat is starting to make a lot more sense now."

Luna looked at Rei all puzzled, "What do you mean the defeat makes sense?"

…...

Captain Mamoru "Tuxedo Kamen" Chiba inspected his F-4 Phantom II with his RIO Captain Hikawa "Kame" Yamato. In a half hour they would be launching with a full load of cluster bombs to support the ground offensive. In the distance, they could see the Hida Mountains and the ferocious aerial assault underway by the USAF while the IJAF prepared its next round of pummeling before the USN/MC took over.

The ideal was to keep the Negaverse pinned on the mountains while Infantry formed a cordon to prevent any escape and form a base from which a sweep could begin once the B-52s and B-1s pasted the area followed by the biggest artillery barrage since WW2.

"Kame, everything set on your side?" Tuxedo Kamen asked.

"Yeah, by the way Tuxedo Kamen, did you have to put such a sappy paint job of your sweetheart on our bird?" Kame answered and referred to the nose art of Sailor Moon with the kanji caption of, 'For Love and Justice, I am Sailor Moon and in the name of the Moon, I'll right wrongs and triumph over evil,' framed by red roses on their bird.

"Well Kame, your ideal of nose art was equally sappy, besides, I'm flying. So get your ass by your seat so we can start the 'before entering the cockpit inspection' checklist." Tuxedo Kamen answered.

"Oh fine Tux, but seriously, don't you think having the ground crew write 'Pink Sugar Heart Attack,' on all the CBUs is a bit too much? What inside joke is that about?"

…...

Major Meyer blew his whistle and waved his hand forward.

"Urrah!" Was the answering war cry as his rifle platoons followed him to the waiting Seahawks in which they would be deploying.

Taking sitting firing positions, everyone was facing outward with rifles at the ready. With roads tasked to moving civilians away from the fighting with Military traffic restricted to Logistics Units which were also hauling the heavy equipment, flying by helicopter from the cleared parking lot was the only way to get to the combat zone. All in all it would take two trips to bring his full company to the cordon area.

…...

"Stalin said one true thing in all his life, artillery whether delivered by air, land, or sea, is well and truly the god of war."


	3. War

WAR

Standing before the Sacred Fire of Hikawa Shrine, Rei began the Kuji-in and brought her hands together with fingers interlocked. The index fingers were raised and pressed together. As Rei did this she chanted, "Rin."

…...

Captain Chiba climbed to 5,000 meters on his second combat sortie and approached the Hida Mountains which were on fire. Over the radio orders from AWACs and FACs were being belted out as nearly 200 IJAF planes began their second set of assaults on the Hida Mountains with the support of Imperial Japanese Army Aviation.

"Kame, keep an eye out for missile streaks," Captain Chiba ordered as he keyed his mike for blue flight, "Blue Flight, activate countermeasures. Kuji and Shingon, I want you at seven five zero zero meters orbiting the area as we answer requests for air strikes. Do not stray out of our assigned box without orders or it will be my boot in your ass."

…...

Rei with her hands still together, adjusted their shape again. Pinkies and ring fingers interlocked with the index finger and thumb raised and pressed together. Her middle fingers were crossed over the index fingers and their tips curled back to touch the thumbs' tips, the middle-fingers' nails were also touching. "Pyo."

…...

Major Carlton Meyer oversaw his men building defensive positions for the containment perimeter. Up ahead the IJA was hemorrhaging men getting the last of the civilians out of the mountains and pinning the enemy into a fight to keep them on the mountain as the Perimeter was established. It was hell up there and several times he had to order his company's M252 mortars to lend support to a beleaguered IJA unit.

"First Sergeant, I want you to grab a squad from Kristol's Platoon and commandeer these moving vans and grab me more HE rounds and one van load of IR rounds, ILLUM rounds if the IRs aren't in stock. We got four hours till nightfall and its going to be a cloudy moon less night. I don't want to be shooting IJA soldiers by mistake when they begin withdrawing."

…...

Hands together, index fingers crossing each other to touch opposite ring fingers, middle fingers crossed over them. Ring and pinky fingers straight. Tips of ring fingers pressed together, tips of pinkies pressed together, but both sets of ring and pinky fingers were separated to form a V shape. Rei chanted the next word, "To."

…...

Sailor Mercury had been surprised General Halverston granted her request to join her mother in assisting the refugees in the processing camps. Nearly a million people had been displaced in the past few days with more being ordered out as well as the Military established a military zone.

Many were in dire need of medical care and the Government had put out a call for civilian Doctors to set up an intermediate hospital to cope with the refugees next to the Military Hospitals caring for the growing military causalities. Mercury's mother had been amongst the volunteers.

Having volunteered before at the Hospital and holding First Aid Certification, Sailor Mercury petitioned to join her mother and been surprised to have it approved. Since then she had begun her fight to keep these people alive by using her goggles' medical diagnosis function to quickly spot problems and her computer to keep an accurate log of the patients and their conditions. And thanks to a donation by the US Army, she could put full body scans taken by her goggles on several screens connected by wireless Internet to her computer.

"Ami, several more truckloads of refugees came in. I need you to triage them immediately," Dr. Mizuno informed Sailor Mercury as she came into the Administration Tent.

"On my way mama," Sailor Mercury spoke. "Oh before I forget, my friends have been cleared to come here as well to assist us."

"Excellent, we need all the help we can get."

…...

Hands together, Rei manipulated her ring fingers to cross each other to touch opposite index fingers, middle fingers crossed over them, index finger, pinky and thumb straight. That done, Rei intoned, "Sha."

…...

General Lee Ermey was in his command post coordinating the various Negaverse attacks. In the corner his SIGNIT unit of Vietnamese mercenaries were locking down the location of the HQ of 3rd MEF. The idiot commander simply could not keep his yap shut and trust his subordinates in the platoon sized fights breaking out across and around the mountain ranges.

"Sir we got him, grid B two niner, within range too," the SIGNIT leader spoke up from his table.

"Ah, time to give the bastard an encore of Stalin's leftover orchestras," General Ermey spoke with a smile as he picked up a phone to his Artillery Commander.

…...

Interlocking her fingers together, Rei went on to the next word, "Kai."

…...

Tokyo Bay was full of ships carrying bombs, armored fighting vehicles, shells, trucks, artillery, ammo, fuel, while the sky was full of planes bringing in Military Personnel from the Japanese, American, and even the Australian military to the airports where helicopters shuttled them to where they needed to be. Further out to sea, even more ships waited to deliver supplies and in the air, British, French, German, and even South African forces were enroute.

Patriotic music was blaring from the Public Announcement System, while all broadcasts had been taken over by the Government to display critical information.

…...

With fingers still interlocked, Rei moved her fingertips inside and chanted, "Jin."

…...

General David Hackworth observed the loading of the 82nd Air Mechanized Division into their transports to Japan. In six months it had gone from a joke motorized unit that would have been trashed soundly by a far more powerful Russian VDV Regiment to a true fighting unit. Of course Captain Micheal Sparks was still a little crazy in some of his ideals, but at least he was on the right track and his work was superbly researched if on the long side to reading. It was even more amazing was the fact top brass thought this was utterly nuts despite the Soviets, Germans, and now even the Dutch were doing it successfully.

The infantry brigades now were mounted on M-113s while the Defense Industry worked on designing vehicles comparable to the Russian BMD series and German Wiesel. No longer was the 82nd wedded to WW2 style thinking. It was going forth into 3-D battle maneuver to borrow one of Captain Sparks ideals he had worked out with the 82nd 's new division commander Major General David Grange.

…...

Left hand in an upward-pointing fist, index finger raised, right hand gripping her index finger, and thumb pressed onto the left index's nail, Rei chanted, "Retsu."

…...

As far as the eye could see, a long column of every F-111, B-58s pulled from the boneyard, B-52, B-1, and even the new B-2s that America had in flyable condition, was forming up over the Pacific Ocean north of Hokkaido for 0000 hundred hour bomb run over Hida Mountains. All in all 1,245 aircraft, would take part in one massive blow with each plane carrying a full load of 500 pound bombs. Quite simply, the USAF was betting the entire farm on this attack.

…...

Hands spread out in front, with thumb and index finger touching to form a triangle between them, Rei chanted, "Zai."

…...

Jaedite oversaw the unveiling of the numerous slipway portals that enabled the Negaverse to raid Earth. With the assassin plan not viable due to the insane security thrown around the scouts he had turned to a different task.

Securing weaponry and personnel for General Ermey. One of the personnel he hired had once been a nuclear engineer and offered to hook Metallia up to a pair of nuclear reactors. In terms of fully reviving her they were the wrong sort of energy, but it did allow the Negaverse to finally do mass wormhole jumps once again since they no longer had a space fleet or the infrastructure to build a new one.

Since then he had been buying up every SAM and AAA system available on the open market and cracking the world's military communications. Many of the communication hacks he initiated had led nowhere, but after a steep learning curve and several near captures by the world's security services, he finally managed to get the USAF's codes cracked and knew the exact approach of the USAF's bomber stream.

Once the stream hit its final checkpoint before they began their bomb runs, Jaedite intended to ambush them in mid-air at point blank.

Of course such an ambush would risk melting the nuclear generators, but it would remove the USAF's most powerful strike component.

…...

Hands forming a circle, with thumbs on top and fingers on the bottom, right hand overlapping the left up to the knuckles, Rei chanted, "Zen."

The logs of the sacred fire broke ominously, and Rei fell into a psychic trance as visions of the Phoenix flooded her mind.

"Welcome Rei, I wish we never have to meet in person."

…...

"This is Golf Six, requesting air support on hilltop bravo six three nine, I need you to burn'em out."

"Rodger, Golf Six," Captain Chiba answered as he banked right, towards where a spotter plane had marked the target area with WP Rockets, with his wingman Zen. "Zen, napalm, drop with me in three, two, one, bombs away," Captain Chiba thumbed the pickle button and hit the afterburners to climb out of range of a SA-18 lock on. Already his squadron was down to six operational planes from sixteen planes it started out with this morning.

"Shit, missile launch, break hard left as you can," Kame shouted from the back seat.

Captain Chiba immediately performed a dangerous 11G left turn and felt his vision immediately begin to narrow and his arms and legs having difficulty manipulating the controls.

"Level out Tuxedo Kamen, missile took the decoy!" Captain Chiba's wingman informed him.

Leveling out, Captain Chiba noted the G meter had tripped, "Kame, you okay back there?"

"Yeah Tuxedo Kamen, did you trip the G Meter again?"

"Yep,"

"Chief is going to flip."

…...

Major Meyer checked his watch, the USAF's big blow should be on station in three hours. Already the last of the IJA was withdrawing from the mountains under a curtain of artillery fire and napalm like from the air strike he just ordered.

The cost had been heavy. Third MEF HQ had been hit in a WP rocket barrage from the mountain and the entire Command Staff and General Nigel killed. The IJA had lost 14,567 dead or missing and 28,089 wounded as of the latest figures.

Handing the handset back to his radio operator, Major Meyer observed the mountains through his NVG Binoculars. Regular intervals of IR rounds enabled him to use the device. So far no attempts had been made to probe the perimeter, but just in case the four M60A3s assigned to his unit were loaded with canister rounds.

Spotting possible enemy activity two miles out, Major Meyer sprung into action. "Lieutenant Killjoy, in the gap between hill six two two and one three four, fire an ILLUM!"

Killjoy immediately turned to one of his mortar crews and ordered the round fired.

Once the round burst between the gap, it was clear with no enemy in sight. So far the main fighting was concentrated just outside of Nagano and Toyama, which were still in the process of evacuating civilians, which was complicated by the constant artillery barrages unleashed onto their streets.

With things looking clear, Major Meyer decided to eat now since he hadn't had a chance to eat all day. "First Sergeant,"

The gas alarm went off, "Fuck! Masks on! Masks on!" Major Meyer screamed along with everyone else as he scrambled to get his mask on. Intelligence had indicated the Negaverse had bought up and was making Chlorine Gas and some of the Youma could self produce the incapacitating gas Kolokol-1.

Finally securing his mask, Meyer felt the whiplash of Marine Power's 105mm gun as the M60A3 fired a WP round. The M60A3s also started opening up with their main guns and all along the line his men began firing into the night as the White Phosphorus revealed portals where Negaverse Infantry and Armored Vehicles were pouring from.

Return fire answered them and a M60A3, Apostle, blew up in a pyrotechnic display with its turret flying up into the air and crashing down on Lt. Krandall who had been enroute to speak to Apostle's Tank Commander. Mortar and Rockets began landing on Major Meyer's position.

"Patrick! Get all available air support! Greg, protective artillery barrage! Johnson, give the horn!" Major Meyer shouted at his staff as he took the handset from Johnson to call Division HQ as he was an independent company.

"Freaker One this is Golf Six, I am under assault by armor and requesting more tank support!"

"Golf Six, say again!"

A massive explosion hurled Major Meyer through the air ten feet, knocking him out cold on landing.

…...

"Approaching final checkpoint, all craft go to full military power and begin scattering to your target zones," General Rodger "Hurricane" Buel ordered as the full convoy of the provisional 1st Strategic Air Force approached the bomb run point. Now there was no turning back. The Negaverse had ruptured the perimeter in six places and turned the battle into a fluid fight. Only a massive blow held the chance of caving in the Negaverse's logistics center in the mountains.

It never occurred to General Buel that he and the Pentagon were operating under the wrong assumptions. Nor would it as Jaedite sprung his trap. The last thoughts going through his mind was, 'WTF!" as a portal opened in midair in front of his bird where an old German 88mm AAA put a round through his cockpit.

…...

Jaedite smiled as he put his fingers in his ears over the roar of the various weapons he was employing against the 1st Strategic Air Force. Where Hikawa Shrine had been a turkey shoot of the Negaverse's forces, Jaedite was returning the favor now.

All across the sky the mightiest warriors of the USAF were being butchered in his kill box. Loaded down with bombs, fuel, and restricted maneuvering space, there was no way for the B-52s, B-1s, and B-2s to escape. The 30 B-58s of the 304th Nuclear Bombardment Wing managed to escape by dangerously throttling up their engines to full power in the formation and speeding out with reckless disregard for safety under the command of Lt. Colonel Gregory Dole while the escorts and F-111s dove for the deck, dropping their ordinance and unnecessary weight in the process.

Despite those escapes, Jaedite had won a smashing victory for the Negaverse with the complete destruction of all of America's primary heavy bombers.

"Kua," Jaedite addressed a fair skinned, blue haired, female youma in a skimpy orange bikini who served as his messenger, "Send word to Queen Beryl, we have met the enemy and he is dust on the wind."

…...

"Shut up on the radio boys, we'll mourn them later, right now we still have mountains to bomb and that has not changed. Continue on with that mission, anyone returning home without hitting his target or orders to do so will face court martial." Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Dole shouted over the radio at his shocked crews.

Unlike the B-52s, B-1s, and B-2s, his 30 B-58s stored at Area 51 were carrying prototype rocket assisted penetration bombs loaded with a classified explosive mix. The plan had called for all thirty to follow behind the main wave and let them flatten all opposition so they could safely drop their weapons into the thirty main mountains the Negaverse were using as bases to launch their attacks.

Now they would have to do it alone, all other air assets were tied up containing the ruptures.

Taking a moment to adjust the air conditioning, Lt. Col. Dole continued on with his mission. The only calm, clearheaded, and collected voice in the shit storm that was breaking out throughout the world over the unfolding disaster before and behind them.

…...

It was all Serenity could do to not cry. When Emperor Heisei had shown up unannounced and asked her and the scouts still there to accompany him to the refugee camp Ami was working at with him. She had jumped at the opportunity to get out of the building. She had never realized the scale of the disaster till it was staring her in the face.

As far as the eye could see, shell shocked survivors stood, sat, or laid down in the open with little shelter and were mostly apathetic to the dull roar of fighting in the background. Red Cross volunteers did what they could to assist them, but were short on supplies. The growing number of Military Causalities added to the problem and a mass grave was being dug to handle the problem of dead bodies stacking up as the living were given priority on transports.

Even more macabre than the bodies were the growing pile of amputated limbs stacking up to the exposed bodies of civilians and Japanese and American military personnel.

Serenity's future self had never dealt with this, the costs had always been hidden from her eyes. Not anymore.

The Emperor, Luna, Artemis, and her friends minus Rei and Pluto were amongst the refugees providing what help or comfort they could.

Gathering up her courage, Serenity approached a group of crying elementary school age triplets. Kneeling down, she spread out her wings to encompass the small group of three girls. "Its okay, please don't cry."

"But the monsters are out there! Can't you hear them!" One of the girls screamed and as if in answer to her scream, the noise level ratcheted up again signaling another major air assault.

Pulling the screaming girls into her embrace, Serenity tried to speak over the massive roar of battle. "Don't cry, warriors even as we speak are fighting the monsters out there and will continue to fight till they are gone. Believe in them as I do and the monsters will go away." 'Stay safe Mamo-chan, stay safe.'

…...

Captain Chiba switched to guns as Kuji and Jurai's bird blew up behind him.

Spotting a Negaverse column moving across a rice paddy, Captain Chiba let loose his entire cannon stock before thundering back to base with his wounded bird and dead RIO.

"Sabre Six, out of ammo and Bingo Fuel, another enemy column moving down box four niner three."

…...

President Clinton sat on his couch, in the Oval Office, in shock along with with the USAF Chief of Staff. Roughly 3,800 air crew had been butchered in the ambush or in the ongoing fights around the Hida Mountains. Amongst them had been three generals, 14 colonels, and 67 majors. In one blow, America's main striking power was permanently lost. America did not have the industrial capacity to replace it anytime soon without going to a total war setting.

On the ground 6,045 Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers had been killed with five generals amongst the dead. Japanese losses were even worse given their military's poor training standards and technology.

"Its fucking World War Three," Clinton resignedly spoke as he realized he was going to have to go before Congress and ask for a draft and full economic controls to bring the country to a full war production in order to defeat the Negaverse.

"The 304th has dropped their bombs, but it doesn't appear to have stopped the flow of Negaverse forces or killed any Command and Control nodes as the Negaverse still remains coordinated. I have ordered the 304th to Guam for now."

…...

Colonel Douglas Macgregor didn't bother waiting for orders from General Cranston, 1st Armor's Commander, his armored brigade was unloaded and clear of Tokyo and the front was collapsing. He was going towards the front.

"First Brigade, roll out as fast as you can and kick some ass!"

…...

General Halverston personally led a bayonet charge of odds and ends of Army, Marine, and IJA units he could scrape up in an attempt to break through to Golf Company and seal the rupture across ninth corps' front before the Negaverse could use it to envelop Tomioka and Annaka and thus drive down the Kanto Plain.

All around him artillery and mortar rounds exploded as the Negaverse tried to hold his charge back.

"Come on! Courage and Honor! Drive these bitches back!" General Halverston shouted over the din of battle as he speared yet another youma and gunned down two more in rapid succession as his men spread out in the walking bombardment.

A series of war cries answered him, as he led the 4,500 odd men on the last klick through a forest before they would be in contact with Golf Company. In the distance he could hear the distinctive sound of American weaponry and knew he was close.

"We're almost there, come on, don't quit now!"

…...

Major Meyer fought the intense pain from his cracked ribs and continued to direct the fight around his shattered company's perimeter anchored around the tanks Marine Power and Gunny. Of his company only 57 effectives remained, join by the shattered remnants of 2nd Battalion Third Marines Echo Company's 49 survivors and odds and ends of a Japanese battalion with its 67 survivors.

"Golf Six, we are outside your perimeter, coming up fast." General Halverston's voice came over the radio.

"Hold fire to the rear! Friendlies coming up. Pop flares!" Major Meyer shouted through his bull horn before answering the General. "Good to have you join the party sir, Golf Six out."

Leaning back as General Halverston appeared, Major Meyer finally signaled Doc Johnson.

"What can I do for you sir?"

"Knock me out Doc, and prepare to move the wounded."

"Yes sir," The Naval Corpsman answered as he pulled out a morphine injector.

Within minutes, Major Meyer was on a chopter to the rear along with most of his company, leaving behind 187 dead.

…...

General Ermey stood up from his command chair as Queen Beryl walked into the Command Center.

"As you were General, what news have you?"

General Ermey smiled, "The main thrust to the Kiso Mountains continues with little opposition with Nagano surrendering as we speak, the diversionary thrusts towards the Kanto Plain have drawn all the attention so far with the heaviest fighting around Tomioka and Annaka."

"Excellent, keep me informed General."

Queen Beryl smiled. Once General Ermey cut Honshu is half, she would roll out the nuclear warheads and VX she had managed to steal from the Russians.

…...

General Halverston entered General Nishi's Command Tent.

"I don't give a shit General Cranston, First Brigade is our only hope of plugging the fucking gap or we will be looking at a fucking massacre of over two hundred thousand civilians still in transit from the danger zone in Maebashi!" General Nishi slammed the phone down and looked up at General Halverston.

"Halverston, First Brigade, First Armor is coming up in support under Colonel Macgregor. Grab them and plug that gap permanently till the rest of First Armor can get up here while I try to piece together more shattered units."

"Yes sir," General Halverston answered as he rushed right back out to his personal helicopter. First Brigade was exactly what the doctor ordered. Already General Halverston was envisioning his third counter-attack for the night. The plan was simple and brutal. 97 MRLS he had managed to gather in the past half hour would launch a saturation barrage with submunitions warheads followed by an all out heavy tank charge through the devastation.

…...

Colonel Macgregor held an impromptu meeting with General Halverston six miles from the front as his Brigade aligned itself for a broad front charge.

"Well sir, I can definitely plug that hole, but I need more infantry to push up to those passes and plug them up securely."

"Don't get ahead of yourself Colonel, but I agree, however, we are down to throwing shattered remnants of units together in ad-hoc battlegroups trying to put out the raging fire along the front. Just plug the hole till I can get another battlegroup put together to support your drive into the mountains."

"Yes sir, we'll be able to launch in an hour."

…...

Jaedite observed the latest Negaverse assault on the Jikkoku pass. Defended fanatically by the U.S. Tenth Mountain Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the pass was proving difficult to force especially with his rear still fighting to subdue Saku and drain the overrun city's inhabitants of lifeforce. No fewer than ten bayonet fights had resulted from both sides taking and retaking the pass as air support grew more and more scarce for the Americans.

"Kua, go to Saku and inform Venna to wrap up and push down the road to Yamanashi."

"Yes General," Kua complied.

Turning back to the front, Jaedite observed the fighting as his artillery dueled the Americans. While officially his Northern Army Group was a diversionary force for General Dett's Army Group South, Jaedite had every intention of doing more than being a diversion. He intended to cut Kanto off and seize it and hopefully unseat the usurper General Ermey. He knew from Christine that Ermey was sleeping with Beryl, and that pissed him off even further.

…...

Serenity lifted the last of the triplets onto a bus and waved it off before going to the cafeteria tent set up for the staff. An exhausted Mercury and her mother were already there along with the 80 survivors of Golf Company plus all the extras it had brought along from who knew where.

Walking up to Dr. Mizuno, Serenity inquired about Hotaru. "How is Saturn doing doctor?"

"I have her on an IV. Her healing powers have greatly dehydrated her especially after she fixed up Meyer's men."

"Thank you, how long has Mercury been sleeping?"

"Ami been asleep for the past hour, I've been too tired to move her to a bed."

Placing her hand on Dr. Mizuno's shoulder, Serenity spoke, "I'll have someone to help, but I need to know what is going on at the front."

Dr. Mizuno nodded.

Pulling her communicator out, Serenity summoned Jupiter to assist Mercury, before heading to the back of the cafeteria. As she did so, Serenity noted several Marines she had known who had failed to return:

Lieutenant John Krandall

Lieutenant Karol Huntington

Lieutenant Gregory Valensuela

Lieutenant Nigel Huston

First Sergeant Franklin Hammerstedt

Serenity also noted many new faces amongst Golf Company, many of whom were standing up from their hot meals and staring at her in awe as she approached. Serenity smiled at them and inclined her head to them.

"Thank you," Serenity addressed them with tears in her eyes. Most of the tired, grimy, and bloodstained Marines were only a few years older than her and had no real ties to her country, but they still volunteered and put everything on the line to defend the frightened refugees outside the tent while they were evacuated.

Several hands reached out for her and Serenity touched them, wondering how many of them would yet join the piles of the dead.

Making her way through the crowd, Serenity found Major Meyer hunched over a map eating while his officers and Gunny Jaeger discuss the situation as they ate their own meals. Serenity couldn't help but notice how worn they looked as they looked up at her approach.

Sensing what she was about to ask, Major Meyer spoke. "We're being systematically dismembered along with the country. Nuclear ordinance is being shipped in as we speak in case the situation deteriorates even more."

Serenity turned pale as a ghost at that revelation.

…...

Colonel Macgregor watched in awe of 1,164 rockets flew through the air, each carrying 644 M77 Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions.

For the Negaverse XIIIth Corps, it was a death knell with 23,000 of its 37,000 personnel dying outright in the barrage. Within moments, the survivors saw a most intimidating site. Over 300 AFVs bearing down on them, weapons blazing.

It was an utter route with 1st Brigade taking over 3,000 prisoners in just a half hour of starting their attack.

…...

Major Mamoru Chiba tried to sleep over the noise of battle still ongoing. With causalities as they were, he had been promoted to Squadron Leader after coming back from his last mission as the IJAF tried to rebuild its shattered forces by calling up reservists and direct commissioning of top flight students in the training wings.

From here on out, all bombing missions would be from 60,000 feet and no more CAS would be flown except by American A-10s. Losses from CAS had simply been too prohibitive to do it anymore.

Shifting on his side, Major Chiba popped a sedative to sleep for six hours and then laid flat on his back.

When, Major Chiba woke up, it was noon and the tarmac of Hyakuri Air Base was full of USAF F-111s taxing down the runway for their bomb runs. Work crews were busy expanding the runway as well to accommodate more aircraft.

Spotting Lieutenant Colonel Ibaraki, Major Chiba jogged to catch up with him. "Sir, I know we are on a forty-eight hour standby, but I want to get back out there. I just can't sit here while many of our civilians are in danger still."

Colonel Ibaraki took one look at Major Chiba and placed his hands on the young Major's shoulders. "Listen, you look like shit, while I can admire your drive, you're about to fall apart. Take a shower, get some hot food and relax till 1800 hours when your new squad members will be arriving. Thats an order Major."

Mamoru slumped in defeat, "Yes sir."

"Come on Major, Chief is serving his special ingredient soup today and its to die for."

…...

General Hackworth signed the disbandment order for the destroyed Second Infantry Division whose remnants had been absorbed into Battlegroup Halverston. Sixth Infantry was at half strength in Annaka.

Strict military considerations would call for the abandonment of the Annaka and Tomioka bulge in the Gunma region, but the Japanese Military, understandably would not risk its civilians in Maebatsu coming under fire.

Luckily for everyone, his careful prepositioning of equipment and redeployment of units over the past six months had enabled a rapid buildup of American Forces in Honshu. However, it was starting to be noticed as the world's despots tallied up the numbers and realized they been scammed by several 'Ghost Units'. Not a problem for South Korea who was more than strong enough to kick the north's ass.

The real concern was Kuwait. "Damn you Bush, why didn't you finish the job."

The door opened admitting a man who evoked comparisons with the Batman Villain the Penguin. "Ah Stuart Slade, glad you were able to see me on such short notice. For nuclear warfare planning you come highly recommended. This paper was signed by the President authorizing you access to classified material needed to make your determinations."

…...

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Carlton Meyer reviewed mentally his orders. Retake and hold Jizo Pass till relieved. His brevet promotion along with all his men was because this was a forlorn hope mission which if they succeeded would make their brevet ranks permanent.

Not how Meyer pictured earning silver oak leaves as his helicopter approached the LZ three klicks from the pass. As the pass had Highway 33 and 125 connecting to it, it was important to plug it before the enemy broke out to the north via 33 or thunder down 125 to hit Akima and threaten Annaka from the rear.

Luckily the enemy had only a scout force at the pass and had yet to send heavy forces to secure it, so his 300 volunteers were landing south of the pass.

"One Minute!" The pilot shouted.

Meyer thumbed his safety off to three round burst.

"Touchdown! Hit it Marines!"

"Urrah!"

All along the unoccupied road, Meyer's Marines rushed forward spearheaded by two IJAA Cobra Attack Helicopters. In the lead, on the ground, Meyer personally led his men with the bayonet, harsh experience having taught them to have it always fixed.

The Cobras unleashed a hellstorm of 70mm rockets into the pass ahead followed by a suppressive 20mm Gatling gun barrage before exhausting their ammunition and peeling off.

Spotting a dazed survivor still holding her rifle, Meyer put a three round burst through the Youma's head before he register she was unable to fight. The other five surviving Youma were more lucky and Meyer took their surrender. "First Sarge, have them seen to," Lt. Col. Meyer ordered.

"Yes sir," First Sergeant Jaeger answered as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and led the prisoners off with a squad to a helicopter that remained behind for just such a purpose. The marines quickly handcuffed the prisoners to the skids as per standing orders.

While that was done, Meyer began putting the defense together and detailed Major Jordan to take half the sapper platoon down the 33 road to slow the enemy response while he detailed the rest to wire the 125 road.

The rest got busy filling sandbags and grabbing whatever was available to strengthen the defense. Soon enough the marines were cursing like sailors. Meyer let them, it kept their minds off the looming enemy and would be channeled into that much more rage against the enemy when they came.

"Pick up the pace Marines, we can be in combat at any moment." Lt. Col. Meyer informed them.

…...

Major Jordan watched the road as the sappers wired the road behind him. The security squad with him included two men with the experimental Javelin ATM. Due to the nature of the mission they had been given the fire and forget weapon to assist in holding the Negaverse back.

Hearing the sound of a approaching vehicle, Major Jordan signaled the Javelin men to hold fire before loading a HEDP into his M203. The moment the Russian built Ural-4320 appeared, Major Jordan put the grenade right through its engine block and lit up the back of the vehicle with the rest of the security squad's rifle fire.

"Gunny, you done wiring?"

"Yeah, ready when you are Major."

"Alright lets do this," Picking up his radio, Major Jordan informed Lt. Col. Meyer of his falling back.

…...

General Huren of the 12th Negaverse Army responded with dismay to the loss of the Jizo Pass. Due to the nature of the terrain, he couldn't retake the pass by a direct armor charge. Still he had 4,500 "volunteers" from the DPROK with his army. Time to put them to use.

"Mugen, inform Colonel Yong-kun to retake the Jizo Pass."

…...

Lt. Col. Meyer could hear explosions in the distance as the Sappers tore up the road behind them. Jordan had already informed him of the enemy approach. "Lock and load Marines, company is coming up!"

"Urrah! Semper Fidelis!"

"For the Goddess!"

The last was unexpected, but like wildfire it picked up and everyone started shouting it.

…...

Sailor Pluto observed the fighting withdrawal of Major Jordan's force from the safety of her castle.

She had to confess that the armies of the Silver Millennium with their sparkling armors and spotless shining swords could never accomplish the disciplined fighting withdrawal she was witnessing. Mainly because they fought till destroyed as retreat and dirty fighting were inimical to them.

"Even if you will never match the grandeur of the Silver Guards, it is still such a waste that you Eric Jordan, will die today." Pluto softly spoke as a round punched through Major Eric Jordan's helmet and killed him instantly.

…...

"Set him down Gunny, you have to let him go," Lt. Col. Meyer gently spoke to the stricken Gunnery Sergeant White as he cradled the deceased Major Jordan in his arms. Inside, Meyer felt the same way as Gunny. The Mustang Officer had been the rock everyone looked to, even him. His loss would be sorely felt.

Scanning his Marines and Sailors, Meyer motioned them back to their duties and detailed some men to quickly bury the Major's body.

"Captain Killjoy! Blow one two five!"

…...

Rei pulled herself up on her unsteady feet, the others needed to know, and they couldn't tell their minders. They simply didn't have the time to explain the situation. Pulling out her communicator, Rei signaled Usagi.

…...

"Colonel, multiple enemies coming up, looks about Brigade Strength." One of Meyer's observation posts called in.

"Switch to Killjoy's channel and direct Mortar," Lt. Col. Meyer ordered before turning to the rest of his Marines. "Gentlemen! Prepare to welcome our guests!"

"Urrah!"

The battle cry was punctuated by the loud 'crumps' of the mortars lifting off.

Taking a firing position in his CP with his radio man next to him, Meyer didn't have long to wait. Several bugles started to be heard and the hard cracks of M-14s, 'Wait those aren't M-fourteens, those are AKs,' Meyer realized as men wearing DPROK uniforms attacked in mass into the hellfire of Meyer's men.

Grabbing the handset, Meyer dialed 8th Army Headquarters in Tokyo. "This is Golf Six, under attack by the NKPA..."

The handset was shot out of Meyer's hands and his radioman fell back with half his face missing and neat little holes through his body and into the radio he had on his back. "Shit, Cranston! You're now my RT Officer get your ass over here!" Meyer shouted out using his bullhorn to cut across the noise of battle so the 1st Lieutenant in question would hear him.

…...

The Sailor Scouts laid low to the ground with their goggles active and tracking the fighting going on 500 meters in front of them. There was no indication the NKPA or the Americans had spotted them yet.

"Uh Rei-Chan, I think we are a bit over our heads here," Eternal Sailor Moon wailed over the din of combat.

"If we're going to do this we have to do so now, Meyer is about to be overrun." Pluto flashed across everyone's visor as it was easier to communicate that way.

"Right!" Everyone flashed.

"Mercury Aqua Mirage!"

"Crescent Beam Shower!"

"Fire Soul Bird!"

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"

"Silence Wall!"

"World Shaking!"

"Submarine Reflection!"

"Dead Scream!"

"Cosmic Moon Attack!"

…...

"You stupid girls are going to get yourselves killed, thank you." Lt. Col. Meyer spoke softly as the unmistakable Sailor Scout's attacks caved in the entire right flank of the NKPA attack force and caused them to fall back rather than push on with the assault.

Unfortunately for the scouts, the NKPA immediately shifted to attack the scouts.

…...

Sailor Moon wailed like a baby as the worst storm of attacks she ever experienced came her way. The Silence Wall didn't even stop the psychical rounds being shot at them.

None of the Sailor Scouts dared to move for a sailor teleport. Their only option was to ride it out as their attacks required them to take positions that would have gotten them killed.

Then Ami remembered that using her goggles she could call in artillery support. Quickly recalling the conversations she had with General Halverston on his Branch Specialty she immediately began using her computer assisted goggles to find an artillery battery in range to assist. Within a second, her goggles flashed across an available battery of FH-70s at Kurabuchi JHS about to transit to Sugao Pass. Ami immediately overrode their orders and seized control of their fire control computers.

Within 30 seconds 155mm HE rounds began falling on the advancing NKPA soldiers sending them reeling back. Shutting her eyes to the carnage, Mercury set her goggles to automatic adjustments and flash messaged everyone. "This is our chance to teleport out."

"Right," everyone flashed back.

Everyone began crawling towards each other to perform the teleport.

…...

"What the..." Meyer started as he watched the artillery bombardment. As far as he knew, no artillery units were in range. Then it hit him. Mercury spent a lot of time with General Halverston who came from the artillery branch of the army. Some of his skills must have rubbed off on Mercury. "Cranston! Find that battery and..."

The Sailor Scouts landed right on top of Meyer, cutting him off in mid sentence and nearly resulting in all of them being lit up.

"Mars, next time, have a better extraction plan!" Eternal Moon shouted at the Senshi of Fire.

"Get off me girls and take cover! They'll be back! Ammo check and causality reports!" Meyer shouted from beneath the pile of girls.

…...

General Hackworth stared at the map of the Korean Border. All along it NKPA and Negaverse forces were going hammer and tongs at the South Koreans. VX use had already been confirmed and Clinton was asking his opinion on whether they should immediately begin Tactical Nuclear Bombardment of NKPA forces in retaliation.

He had advised against it for now, but did recommend that ROK forces order WP to be shot directly at NKPA forces in retaliation.

In the Middle East, well the usual bullshit, but this time Israel and Kuwait were on their own. Saving Japan and Korea was far more important than propping them up with resupply runs or troops.

"Colonel Harris, sitrep on the eighty second."

"It will be deploying at Yamanashi in twenty minutes to reinforce the IJA units already there General."

"Three o fourth?"

…...

"Maintain holding pattern for possible Nuclear Launch," Lt. Col. Gregory Dole ordered as the 1st/304th Nuclear Bombardment Wing took station over Okinawa. At any time, he could be sent to visit instant sunshine on North Korea or sent to stop a Negaverse drive in Japan till overwhelming Naval forces could arrive to bolster the defenses.

It was grim work but someone had to do it.

…...

"So its started, it didn't take long to go into the shitter."

"Have more faith in humanity, especially the Senshi."

"I still have my doubts, but I'll allow this to continue before I intervene."

…...

A beautiful city with Earth high in the sky and a parade of fireflies in the air, stood before Major Jordan. All he had to do was cross with the ferry at the docks. But for some reason he did not, nor did the other 40 men from Battlegroup Meyer. One of many ad-hoc formations that were getting thrown together lately.

They were waiting instead, for what, they did not quite understand. Only that their task was not yet completed. So they waited as others boarded the ferries, joking and exchanging tales of their lives. Some noticed his group and called for them to join them. But, Jordan's group waved them off.

In time a tall and regal woman appeared across the lake and approached Major Jordan's men along with 187 men who Jordan recognized as belonging to Golf Company. As the women got closer he was able to make out distinguishing features.

An upright crescent moon on her forehead flanked by a hint of a circlet, grey eyes, pinkish grey hair done up in two Odango Buns, her white dress was similar to Princess Serenity's but instead of gold bands at the top, hers had a white bow with a crescent moon in the center. Her wings were also different. Where Serenity had two, this woman had a smaller pair situated on her lower back. Her earrings consisted of studs with two gold rectangles dangling from them. In her hands she carried a Crescent Moon Staff.

"Greetings Major Eric Jordan, I am Serenity, mother of Princess Serenity," The Goddess introduce herself, holding out her left hand.

Taking her smooth hand into his rough hands, Major Jordan kissed it. "I am at your service."

Tears filled the Goddess's eyes, "That song you hear is being sung by my daughter."

Major Jordan turn his attention to his wider surroundings and found he could indeed hear a beautiful voice singing while under incredible strain and recognized it as belonging to Usagi/Sailor Moon/Princess Serenity as images of the battle of Jizo Pass flooded his mind with the Senshi forming a circle around a floating Serenity while Lt. Col. Meyer's Battlegroup protected them.

/Do you remember me? I'm just a shadow now This is where I used to be Right here beside you/ /Sometimes I call your name High on a summer breeze What I would give To feel the sunlight on my face What I would give To be lost in your embrace/ /I've fallen from a distant star I've come back, compelled because of love I'm caught between two different worlds I long for one more night on earth/ /Do you believe in dreams? That's how I found you But I can't be revealed 'Til you take a leap of faith/ /What I would give To feel the sunlight on my face What I would give To be lost in your embrace/ /I've fallen from a distant star I've come back, compelled because of love I'm caught between two different worlds I long for one more night on earth/

Then it hit Major Jordan, "Princess Serenity is dying."

Serenity nodded, "Save my daughter, save humanity, for if Serenity must call on the full power of the Ginzuishou she will die and the great darkness that lurks out there will attack Earth."

Still facing the Goddess, Major Jordan called out to the 227 men with him. "Marines! The Goddess asks we protect her daughter Princess Serenity and Earth! What say you!"

"Semper Fidelis!"

…...

The enemy's attacks were bouncing off the shield put up by Princess Serenity. So like any good Marine Officer, Lt. Col. Meyer took full advantage of it, especially when it was revealed his Marines' weapons fire went through it. Still the strain was evident on Serenity and the shield could go down any minute.

"Come on Marines, pour it into them! Killjoy, walk the mortars down the road!" Meyer shouted through his bullhorn. Checking on Serenity, he found her still singing that song as the energy flowed from her Moon Stick and and amongst the Scouts.

"Colonel Meyer! Reinforcements are on the way!"

"Jordan!"

…...

Major Jordan led his his two companies on the right flank of the attacking Negaverse and NKPA forces.

Everyone knew exactly what to do and at two hundred yards they hit the ground and with a unified, "Urrah!" They fired 100 High Explosive Heart Attack rounds, supplied by Goddess Serenity, from 100 M203s. This was followed up immediately with suppressive fire from 40 SAWs and 20 M-60s. Forty-seven men got the twelve 60mm mortars firing on the road within a minute.

Unlike the Sailor Scouts who could make one big splash before being subjected to heavy firepower with no way to retaliate, Major Jordan's two companies were able to maintain the pressure and duke it out. The end result was a slaughter of the enemy before them as they beat down their return fire with their far more accurate rifle fire drilled into them time and time again by stick wielding sergeants and carrot carrying officers.

…...

Serenity felt the pressure ease off entirely as Major Jordan's assault beat down entirely the strung out attackers, something she and her friends had tried to do and failed. Still she was glad that finally the pass was saved and began powering down the crystal to walk it up the road as a scouring energy blast. 'Mamo-chan, it looks like I will see you again. What I would give to be lost in your embrace.'

"Colonel Meyer, I'm dropping the shield!" Serenity shouted over the din of the firing.

"Marines the shield is dropping, take proper cover!" Meyer shouted through his bullhorn.

'Now to time this right,' Serenity thought as she began contracting the shield, "Cosmic Moon Blast!"

A massive orb of energy flew out from the Ginzuishou powered Moon Stick. Strung out and pinned by Major Jordan's assault, the Youma and NKPA were unable to get out of the way and were scoured from the face of the Earth.

Completely exhausted, Eternal Sailor Moon floated down into her friends arms and fell unconscious, but alive.

…...

Jaedite slammed his fists into the map table. These Americans were proving more troublesome than the Sailor Scouts. Despite the shattering blows he delivered to them, they still managed to regroup and counter punch. They seemed just as willing to sustain causalities as he was. Well it was time to break the impasse. If he couldn't break out through the Jizo Pass, then he would have to shift further North.

"Kua, inform Cetyu to take his forty second Shock army to push Northwest from Mount Atago on the Shiraito Highland Way to where it intersects Highway one four six. From there he is to push north to Highway five four, then turn east on five four to out flank the Jizo Pass."

…...

General Hackworth was justing getting off the phone with the President when his aid came up to him.

"Sir, Maebashi has been fully evacuated, the Annaka and Tomioka bulge is now being abandoned."

"Very well Major. Has the IJA indicated what they intend to do next?"

"They are going to form a new line anchored on Kiryu and Fujioka and rebuild for a general offensive."

"About what I figure. What about the South Korean counterattack."

"They have made shallow penetrations so far into the North. Oh and sir, Kuwait has finally fallen."

General Hackworth sighed. "Any other news?"

…...

Queen Beryl was putting back in her earrings while her personal attendant was getting Christine dressed when the door was opened by her personal footman.

"Your Majesty, General Ermey has sent news and gifts."

Christine perked up at the mention of gifts but knew better now to not speak out of turn, so Beryl motioned her footman to continue.

"General Ermey reports that Takayama is taken without a fight, and he sends these fine jewelry and woodwork as proof along with the tribute due to you by Takayama, your Majesty."

"Bring the gifts in now, I'll review the tribute later."

"As you will your Majesty."

Within moments, servants began bringing in boxes and display cases of Jewelry and clothes, and samples of fine wood works. The General had even gotten for Christine several expensive dolls.

Queen Beryl felt most pleased with her newest General and Lover. Not since the Khan had she had a competent General and Endymion was but a silly memory to her now and in no way could he even compare to General Ermey.

…...

"Sir, the Sailor Scouts are loaded and everyone is accounted for!" First Sergeant Jaeger shouted over the noise of the choppers.

Nodding to show he heard, Lt. Col. Meyer went to the choppers as IJA Engineers began taking over the pass to wire and block it. Once seated, Meyer got on the horn to his destination of Hyakuri AFB. Upon getting through, he got himself transferred to the mess.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Meyer, my Marines are coming in from a vicious fight. I want steaks, baked potatoes, yams, corn-on-the-cob, and sodas ready for them when we get in. Also have ice cream out for desert. You can discuss billing after we are done eating. Out."

Laying his head back, Meyer felt everyone of his 28 years.

…...

Major Chiba was already out on the tarmac with an ambulance as Usagi's Helicopter touched down. Within moments the ramp dropped down and a barely conscious Usagi was brought down on a stretcher followed by the rest of the scouts. An IV and oxygen mask were already on Usagi. Recognizing him, Usagi weakly waved.

"Mamo-chan."

"I'm here," Major Chiba spoke as he took her hand as her stretcher was lifted into the ambulance.

Smiling, Usagi again faded into unconsciousness as the ambulance doors shut.

While the Scouts watched the ambulance take away their leader, Lt. Col. Meyer and Major Jordan approached them. Sensing their approach they all turned and bowed to them.

"Legal age to join the Corps is seventeen, get showers and be in the mess hall in 30 minutes for food, we'll discuss your actions later," Meyer spoke before leaving with Major Jordan.

"Well my friends, I must return to my duties at the Gates."

"Wait," The Senshi spoke at once to no avail as Pluto left. Sighing they followed the Marines to what was hopefully showers.

"At this rate, we are never going to impress them enough to allow us to help," Sailor Venus spoke up.

"Our past selves fought foes who used swords and bows mixed with magic. They use far more effective weapons than our past armies." Sailor Mars informed them.

Sighing again the Sailor Scouts prepared themselves to face the music from Lt. Col. Meyer.

…...

Colonel MacGregor hated retreats, but the logic was sound behind this one. So far the Negaverse had shown they could not be kicked out of the Mountains. So it was time to draw them into a fluid battle where units like his could fully exploit their mobility advantage.

It also helped causalities had been light amongst his unit. Five dead, four of them from Lieutenant Colonel Raymond T. Odierno's Tank. A fine, aggressive, and intelligent officer, he was destined for greater things under his tutelage. Odierno's loss was a tragedy for America.

"First Brigade, First Armored, this is Colonel MacGregor. Today we enabled over three quarters of a million civilians to escape to safety and smashed two enemy corps. Though this is not our country, you defended it as if it were your own. For that I am proud and the Japanese Government wanted me to relay to you their thanks for answering their call. But this fight is far from over. We have before us many long months of struggle and deprivation against an aggressive, adaptive, and cunning foe. But we will defeat them, one round at a time."

…...

Flashes of explosions lit the night as Brigadier General Halverston toured the depot with his XO, Brevet Colonel Russel L. Honore, and Sergeant Major Robert E. Hall. All throughout the depot, 3,800 exhausted men wearing uniforms from the IJA, IJN, Police, U.S. Army, and USMC were interspersed amongst each other as officers and NCOs tried to get them into their component branches now that Battlegroup Halverston was being disbanded with the army components of it to be formed into replacements for the 6th Infantry Division which he would be taking the XO slot of.

Looking up into the sky, General Halverston noticed a waxing moon and prayed, "Selene, daughter of Zeus, watch over us and help me to bring my men home."

…...

"Those who fall will be the Lost Generation,"

**AN: Song is Fallen by Delerium. **


	4. The Lost Generation

The Lost Generation

Major General David L. Grange closed the eyes of Lieutenant Colonel Stanley A. McChrystal who commanded 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and looked upon the, strangely peaceful in death, body of Captain Micheal L. Sparks. Two possible future Generals forever lost.

Looking up, the General's thoughts returned to the task at hand. Defeating the Negaverse's drive down Yamanashi Prefecture with its numerous roads and passes. With nearly a million civilians in the area, blowing the passes was not an option till they were evacuated, but if the 82nd Division could not hold, there would be no choice but to blow the passes to prevent the Negaverse from driving to the coast at Fuji. The nightmare scenario after that would be the Negaverse then taking the Izu Peninsula and setting up anti-shipping missiles and batteries to interdict shipping traffic in Sagami Bay and harass dock operations in Tokyo Bay assuming they used HE. No one wanted to contemplate the implications if the Negaverse had access to NBC weaponry.

So General Grange had his division just outside Hokuto while the IJAF, Luftwaffe, RAF, RAAF, RNZAF, and USAF bombed the road networks behind it all the way up to Nagano. In support three independent IJA MP Battalions supervised traffic. More forces were en route but would not be available for some time so all available airpower was diverted to assist his division.

Bringing his binoculars up, General Grange watched his mechanized brigades fight a fluid battle. Giving ground to allow enemy forces to pass through before counter punching. The narrow valley was littered with burnt out AFVs from both sides, while Hunter Killer Teams from both sides stalked the wreckage. Had the 82nd remained in its old motorized TO&E, they would have all been dead now, unable to maneuver in the crater pocked area.

"Sir, Eagle Six is on the line, he is coming up in support."

"Tell General Keane he took his sweet ass time," General Grange responded. 'Thank god Jack, I was starting to wonder.'

Turning around, General Grange saw a most welcome sight of attack helicopters joining his returning birds and approaching fast along with transport chopters.

Picking up the horn to his XO Brigadier General John Abizaid who was doubling as second brigade's CO, General Grange began giving out new orders.

…...

Brevet Brigadier General Nigel Ferek took the news of the shoot down of 10th Mountain's new CO Major General Tommy Ray Franks with calmness. He was now in command. Still didn't change the fact his unit was in full retreat after being driven from the Jikkoku Pass. Despite absorbing the 173rd Airborne Brigade and two IJA battalions, his command was at half strength and fading fast.

…...

Brevet Colonel Carlton Meyer felt the weight of the silver eagle on his collar as he surveyed his new command of the 20th Marine Regiment formed from his Battlegroup, shattered units, and recruits straight from the Crucible at Edson Range. All told, 2,347 Marines and Sailors plus 27 USAF personnel arranged in four rifle battalions of 400 men, one artillery battalion of 400 men and a support battalion which included his staff. As he inspected the ones from Edson Range Colonel Meyer stopped. "How old are you and name son," he asked one of them who must have impressed the Drill Instructors "tremendously" to have sergeant stripes.

"Sergeant Velen Jersen and I'm seventeen sir."

Colonel Meyer was shocked, this kid shouldn't even be here, he should be back in the states finishing school and attending SOI and if the sergeant's stripes were anything to go by, OCS as well. Kids like him were the future of the Corps and to throw them into the fray without proper training showed just how desperate the situation was.

"Accomplish the mission and see to the welfare of your squad sergeant."

"Yes sir."

Finishing his inspection, Colonel Meyer dismissed them and called forth his Officers and senior NCOs. As they started to gather, the missile raid alarm sounded.

"Take cover and get your masks on," Colonel Meyer shouted with his bullhorn before pulling his mask out and running for base hospital which was nearby with Sergeant Major Hammerstedt. "This is Silver Guard Six, this NK or NV?"

"NK, Silver Guard, impact in less than three minutes for two zero missiles."

"Shit," Meyer muttered as he burst into the hospital which was a sea of bedlam as staff tried to move patients to the shelter. "Give a hand Sergeant Major!" Meyer shouted as he rushed upstairs and down the hall to Usagi's room.

Sailor Neptune spotted him first and called out to him. "Colonel what is..."

"No time get everyone in Usagi's room and teleport out to somewhere safe for now, I have to command my Regiment!"

"Right!" Neptune responded as she activated her visor and began rushing to Usagi's room.

That done, Meyer began gathering sitreps as he went to the shelter. Outside, I-HAWK missiles could be heard flying off into the sky. Thirty seconds later five impacts were felt across the base and three loud pops. Secondary explosions went off indicating either the fuel or ammo depots were hit.

"VX confirmed, I say again, VX confirmed!" Someone shouted over the radio.

"Shit," Colonel Meyer spoke softly. Clinton was going to nuke North Korea now.

…...

"Confirmed, moving to target," Lt. Colonel Gregory Dole spoke as he keyed the squad frequency. "This is Obsessednuker. You have your targets, hit them unless recalled. Anyone attempting to return to base without dropping their bomb will be shot down. Obsessednuker out." Switching to intercom, Lt. Col. Dole addressed his Nav Officer. "Flighty, set course for Musudan-ri Missile Assembly Building, maximum speed."

"Yes sir."

Sitting back in his cockpit, Lt. Col. Dole relaxed as his bird sped up to Mach 2. His loadout for this mission was a single B83 nuclear bomb set for a 1.2 megaton ground burst. South Korea had already dismantled the North's Air Defenses and even if any survived, he was too high and fast for them to hit anyway.

…...

Colonel Russel L. Honore took four in the chest and two to the head while rallying third brigade and Command Sergeant Major Robert E. Hall lost his legs to a mortar round carrying a wounded soldier to safety.

For Brigadier General Halverston it was intense pain, from the round that hit his shoulder and another that bounced off his kneecap but shattered it, while medics rushed him to the MedEvac.

All around him, Sixth Infantry was fighting and dying in droves as it held the lines. Already causalities had reached 56,000 dead for the entire American effort. Ermey had taught the Negaverse well.

…...

Colonel Meyer considered himself lucky to have lost no one to the missile barrage and was finally on trucks with his regiment to the front after cleanup crews cleared them.

Sounds of fighting could be heard even here in Yuki as they drove forward to the front where they were to relieve the Sixth Infantry Division which had just beaten back a major enemy push to the Kita-Kanto Expy by Dainana JHS.

Along the roads, women, children, and elderly were being transported on whatever could be pressed to do so. Military aged males were being forcibly rounded up by MPs and drafted. Age protocols, laws, and international treaties be damned, if this necessary evil wasn't performed, the country and its citizens would be enslaved and suffer a terrible fate.

Then the trucks stopped and Meyer's men dismounted to load up into a collection of transport chopters consisting of practically every chopter model under the sun.

"You Colonel Meyer!" An Army Brigadier General shouted as he came up.

"Yeah," Meyer spoke before straightening as he read the General's nametag which declared him to be Walter Joseph Marm, Jr. of LZ X-Ray fame. Last he heard, he had been a Colonel about to retire. He was further shocked to see that the colonel next to him was the legendary 'Cornish Hawk' Richard Cyril 'Rick' Rescorla who no doubt was pulled out of retirement.

"At ease, colonel, we're hitching a ride with you to take over the Sixth Division. Its command staff is mostly dead with a Major holding it together."

"Fuck, well we best be going sirs."

"Oh indeed, oh indeed."

…...

Major General David Grange looked at his newest Brigade Commanders, Colonels Antonio Taguba and Ricardo S. Sanchez, who came with the 2nd Brigade 2nd Armored Division and 2nd Brigade 1st Infantry Division respectively.

"I'm going to make this short gentlemen. Taguba race your brigade to Hokuto and keep it plugged along the Chuo Expy. Sanchez, I want your infantry to relieve 1st Brigade at Mukawa ES and Jisso-Ji Temple. Now go"

Both Colonels immediately left Grange's HQ in Nirasakihokuto ES to do as he ordered. Picking up his unit roster, General Grange crossed out the names of Lieutenant Colonels George and Janis Leigh Karpinski. The husband and wife team had died leading their units in a counter attack to retake the Jisso-Ji Temple.

…...

John T. Reed stared in shock at the letter informing him to report to active duty and informed him he was now a Captain, it even had captain bars in it.

…...

All across America, two million 18-36 year olds were receiving draft notices. Reservist had already been recalled and most of the retired personnel still of fighting age. Students who were graduating from Military High Schools and 18 years of age were also snapped up to be made NCOs with the top students even being directly commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants.

Defense orders multiplied and taxes on the top one percent of Americans shot to 90%, Corporations were nationalized and the ones that weren't had to pay in blood to continue operating on Fixed Contracts, and hidden in the various bills being passed was an universal healthcare provision and the disbandment of the 16 separate intelligence agencies into a single entity called the U.S. Intelligence Agency.

…...

Sailor Jupiter entered her castle on Io. With Usagi safely residing within Pluto's Charon Castle, all the scouts had been directed to their castles by Pluto for now and to await word from her.

So Jupiter found herself here in an mostly empty castle. "Now what," Jupiter spoke to herself.

"Lady Jupiter it is a pleasure to see you again!"

Jupiter jumped back in shock as a small holograpic projection of a small sprite looking like her appeared.

"Who are you?"

"I am Guardian Jupiter my lady. Don't you remember me?"

"I'm sorry, but my memories are still a little jumbled."

"Well in that case, I'll give a rundown of the current status of your realm. As per your standing orders when you abandoned this world, the damaged _Thunderstorm _is still on Europa hidden beneath the ice sheet awaiting replacement weapons. I have managed to fix the shipyards, and saved some of the incomplete ships in their underground hangers, with _Hurricane _ready to fly once a crew is found for it."

"Wait, who is performing that work?"

"The robots you left in my care, though the last expired five thousand years ago due to lack of maintenance."

"Well I'll see about getting a crew right away," Jupiter spoke up in glee as she activated her visor. Now she had the ultimate gift for her people. "Guardian, I found Lt. Col. Dole and it appears he is flying back to Okinawa along with his entire wing. Pull him and his entire wing from their planes and their ground crews and teleport them here."

"Yes my lady."

Their was a loud bump followed by a string of curses. "Jupiter!"

Turning towards an irate Lt. Col. Dole, Jupiter smiled innocently, "Hi colonel, I hope the USAF is interested in the two working condition Jupiter Space Battleships. I was hoping you could crew them."

Lt. Col. Dole stood speechless, his tirade about her costing the USAF $375,000,000 worth of irreplaceable aircraft died on his lips. He quickly recovered. "Where are they and their condition."

"Well one is here in the Io shipyards and..."

"Io shipyards?" Multiple people said at once.

Jupiter sweatdropped, "Uh, forgot to mention we are on Io in my castle."

"What!" Multiple voices shouted at once.

…...

Sailor Mars walked through her Olympus Mons armory after touring her orbiting castle which were actually the two moons Phobos and Deimos. Guardian Mars had told her that forbidden weapons were stored here by Selene, mother of Queen Serenity. Sailor Mars had suspected powerful and dangerous Evil Artifacts.

Instead, she found long rows of futuristic rifles, rocket launchers, body armor, AFVs, ammunition, machine tools, and other implements of war. Picking up a bullpup sniper rifle, Sailor Mars, without checking to make sure the chamber was clear or safety on, brought the rifle to her shoulder. However, she failed to brace it properly as she sighted down it and absently pulled the trigger. There was a loud crack as the .50 caliber round exited the barrel and punched through a wall. The recoil slammed into Sailor Mars' shoulder and broke it. Mars screamed in pain.

"Lady Mars, who can I send for help," Guardian Mars cried out as she hovered above her mistress.

"Doctor Mizuno," Mars gasped out. She considered one of Meyer's Medics, but didn't want to add to her reputation amongst them. She would never hear the end of it from them.

Dr. Mizuno appeared in seconds and after initial shock and examination, she crushed Sailor Mars' hopes this would remain secret. "Mars, we need to go back to the compound for X-rays and please don't handle firearms again."

"She is right Lady Mars, these are forbidden weapons after all." Guardian Mars spoke in an authoritative tone complete with wagging finger.

Sailor Mars groaned.

…...

"Bring it in closer fifty more marks!" Colonel Meyer shouted into the radio to his artillery chief, Lt. Col. Mohawk, before turning to Major Volanski his FAC. "Volanski, get me A-10s, sell your soul if you have to!"

Looking across his front, Colonel Meyer watched the grim situation.

…...

Michigan native Sergeant Jersen hit the ground and fired a HEDP round into the belly of an enemy BMP, stopping it cold. "Kilpatrick! Lay down covering fire! Fred take out that Tank with the Dragon!" Jersen ordered as he grabbed a LAW off his pack and took aim at a T-62 tank that had rumbled past his fighting position and fired it into the engine block.

Four seconds later as the crew was trying to bail out an 87mm mortar round fell on its roof and killed it. Fred had also taken out his own tank. Picking up his radio, Jersen contacted Lieutenant Xerxes. "Sir, Jersen, we're out of AT Weapons and low on ammo. We need resupply..."

"Forget it Sergeant, the entire regiment is to fall back, the enemy seized the Chichibu District, get out to the transports."

"Shit, everyone, we're falling back, first fireteam lay down cover, second go!"

What followed was an hour of hell as Jersen's squad fell back under heavy pressure.

…...

General Koydama Oda took one look at the map with the Prime Minister and Emperor and turned to them with tears in his eyes. "The U.S. Tenth Mountain is destroyed, The U.S. eighty second and one hundred first have been pocketed in Yamanashi Prefecture by the Negaverse's out flanking manuever and the Negaverse has seized the passes."

Prime Minister Hino turned towards the Emperor who nodded. Turning back to the General, Prime Minister Hino spoke, "Tell the Americans to nuke the Yamanashi and Chicibu passes and blast a path for their trapped Divisions to escape."

A colonel rushed into the room. "My Lord, Mr. Prime Minister, and General. Two nuclear detonations over the trapped American Divisions confirmed, all contact lost with them. Material used is confirmed as North Korean."

"There was silence for a minute before Mr. Hino recovered. "Evacuate Kanto. All of Honshu is now a Military Zone. My Lord, you must go to Kyushu."

"NO! My place is with my people. I am not abandoning Tokyo until my subjects are safe."

"But my Lord, we are evacuating the region as it is indefensible."

"There are over forty million people in the Kanto Plain, half live here in the Tokyo area. How many will be left behind?"

"My lord, Queen Beryl will be merciless and won't hesitate to kill your subjects."

"Then Mr. Hino, she can have mine first."

…...

Jaedite was celebrating in his command tent. He did it, he smashed the defenses for Kanto and wrecked the vaunted American Military. His constant broad front pressure and timed portal outflanks had finally snapped the defenses.

"Kua, send words to all commands. Drive to the Sea."

…...

Sailor Mars winced at the pain still in her broken shoulder as IJA personnel cataloged the weapons systems in the Olympus Mons Armory under the direction of General Nishi, who himself was walking around with a broken shoulder. All this while her Guardian Sprite flew over them wailing that these weapons were dangerous and deadly in the wrong hands.

General Halverston, was also present but in a wheelchair. He was by the sniper rifles, "Mars come here."

Knowing what he was going to say, Mars went anyway. "Yes General."

"You did notice I hope that all these weapons are hot? That is, they have magazines in them, rounds chambered, and safeties off."

Sailor Mars sweatdropped. "Err,"

"No errs Mars, firearms follow all of Newton's laws of gravity to the letter. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction which is why you see Drill Sergeants chewing out recruits for not having their rifles properly braced. Also never put your finger on the trigger unless you are going to fire."

…...

At long last, the USS Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin steamed into Sagami Bay, turned their 16in guns to the horizon and opened fire in full broadsides, the energy of the blasts ripping across the waters. They followed up with a full Tomahawk Barrage. Several Ticonderogas that had been retrofitted with the 8in gun added their own fire to the mix.

…...

Sergeant Jersen shot the enemy tank commander in the head and jumped onto the track guards of the T-55 and fired his entire mag into the tank, while his squad covered him, then he pulled the pin on a WP Grenade and tossed it in. Jersen's tenth tank kill.

On either side of Jersen, his regiment was making a stand around Kagohara Hospital along highway 357 with Kumagaya City behind them. In the distance, mushroom clouds could be seen from nuclear strikes released in retaliation for the nuclear strikes on the 82nd and 101st Divisions.

The air was thick with poison gases ranging from VX to Incapacitating Agents. Both sides were now wearing protective MOPP suites.

"Jersen, get your squad over here by the gas station," Gunny Bason radioed.

"On my way Gunny."

Several OV-10 Broncos flew over head and unleashed a hail of WP Rockets before peeling off. An A-10 napalmed the area thus marked.

…...

President Clinton looked ill as he authorized ten additional nuclear tipped cruise missiles to fly en route to Japanese targets, as General Hackworth briefed him.

"So far the other Sailor Scouts haven't reported back. However, Sailor Jupiter and Mars have given us and the Japanese Military access to equipment that is so far only a SciFi writer's dream."

"General just carry on and win this war." Clinton killed the connection before sinking into his couch in the secure facility. The world economy reports were on his table and could be summed up as being shit.

Israel had fallen, its nuclear arsenal was now in the hands of Syria and Egypt after the Syrians explained to the Israelis that if they used them, Syria would use VX on Israel's water supply and farms.

There was simply nothing that could be done about it. All assets were tied up just keeping Japan from falling and resupplying the South Koreans in their counter offensive which was now going fast thanks to the retaliatory nuclear barrage.

…...

Mr. Hino was the rock of calmness in a sea of panic at his temple. Many of the current visitors were young schoolgirls who came to pray for the safety of their drafted boyfriends, brothers, and fathers.

Now they prayed for salvation as yet another big flash lit up the horizon followed by a massive boom. The ground shook as yet another mushroom cloud ascended into the sky. Mr. Hino and Yuichiro had already sealed up the buildings and could only now wait as the Civil Defense Sirens wailed throughout the city. "Girls get into the buildings now, fallout will soon be dropping!" Mr. Hino finally spoke. Spotting one girl he recognized, he called out to her. "You, you're Naru right?"

"Yes, Mr. Hino."

"Where is that boy who is always hanging out with you?"

"Umino was drafted today along with most of the boys in our school."

"I see, well let us take shelter now and pray for his well being."

…...

Sailor Venus was still getting used to Magellan Castle which not only had a massive, recently restarted, automated munitions factory turning out High Explosive Heart Attack rounds and lovely bullets, ect., but also had an excellent stock of clothing.

"My Lady, Princess Jupiter is on the line."

"I'll take it Guardian Venus," Minako answered as she activated her visor.

"Minako, how many people can you cram into your fortress and surviving habdomes?"

"Whoa calm down, what is going on?"

"The military is in full retreat from the Kanto Plain and dropping Nuclear Weapons all over the place to cover their retreat! Now many can you take in?" Jupiter screamed.

"Guardian Venus, how many can we support?" Minako asked in shock at the news.

"Forty five thousand in this fortress, two hundred thousand in habdome six, and another nine thousand on the Kairos Space Port my Lady."

"Then start teleporting the citizens of Tokyo out to those locations, the Military is not allowing it to fall into the Negaverse's hands and will nuke it in nine hours."

Minako felt cold. "Guardian, bring Artemis and my family here and begin transporting here a mixed number of ages and genders between newborns and twenty seven year olds."

"Yes my Lady."

Minako put her face in her hands and wepted.

…...

Mamoru had been taken off flight status and sent here at Jupiter's request. Upon teleporting in, Mamoru found the Io Shipyards a hive of activity. Men in in USAF, IJAF, IJN, and USN/MC uniforms were all over the place trying to get the 700 meter long ship ready for flight.

"Mamoru, good to see you," Sailor Jupiter greeted him.

…...

Sergeant Jersen fired his rifle from the rope he was hanging on from underneath the helicopter he was being lifted by as his regiment made its escape. Down below, enemies and friendlies were running all over the place.

Thankfully, Jersen thought to himself, he had gotten all his squad members out alive. "Everyone, we'll be back with the whole corps and we'll kick these bastards to hell."

Sergeant Jersen shouted over the din.

"Urrah!" Corporal Holland answered.

"Dam..." A sniper round punched through Sergeant Jersen's heart and killed him instantly.

…...

Colonel Meyer walked towards the dead body of Sergeant Jersen and knelt down. The kid looked peaceful and content in death and he should have been. He brought his men home alive and destroyed twelve tanks, three BMPs, and killed several dozen enemy soldiers personally.

Taking out his undeserved Medal of Honor, Meyer placed it around Jersen's neck and kissed Jersen's forehead. "Rest now, the burdens of this cruel world will no longer trouble you. The ferry awaits, don't hesitate to take it for you will find others, heroes of old who are already there. Ready to welcome you for the longest party ever."

Zipping up the bodybag, Colonel Meyer turned his attention to the 1,800 survivors of his regiment as Naval Seamen took the body bag and tossed it overboard to make more room for living patients being brought aboard the USS Tarawa, which itself was steaming full speed to Oshima Island where Colonel Meyer had just been assigned as part of the Oshima Defense Garrison which would consist of his Regiment and IJN personnel.

…...

"March tenth, nineteen ninety four, at 0000 hours, Tokyo was destroyed by twelve, one point two megaton airbursts in a tight spread. The city, crowded with industry and twenty six million people could not have been allowed to fall into Negaverse hands. Likewise, Yokohama and other cities around Tokyo Bay were also destroyed. Thirty million people died from the detonations including the reigning Emperor. An additional three hundred thousand military men died defending Japan. But, they weren't just fighting for Japan, they were fighting for the world. The survivors, shell shocked, quickly began burning with the desire for justice and victory."


	5. Desire for Justice and Victory

Desire for Justice and Victory

Across the Solar System, seven Princesses put up appearances in front of everyone, but in private their eyes turned to tears. Princess Pluto maintained a vigilant watch over Usagi and the Time Gate, while Mamoru threw himself into his work to avenge the murdered civilians.

All told, every Princess managed to rescue a combined 1,778,045 people from Tokyo. For now the refugees would remain in the Princesses Realms.

For Colonel Meyer, in the month since the loss of Kanto, he had spent one day on Oshima, before he and his command were whisked away unexpectedly to Charon Castle.

Since then Meyer had been reequipping and rebuilding his regiment with advanced military equipment from the dawn of the Silver Millennium.

Walking into the control center, Colonel Meyer greeted Sailor Pluto. "Good morning, any messages for me or my men?"

"A letter from the President arrived confirming Velen Jersen, Derek Yelstin, and Fredrick Bara for the Congressional Medal of Honor and several silver and bronze star confirmations. Nothing further."

"Very well, I'll take the medals and award them to their recipients. By the way, how exactly does the teleportation technology work as you haven't been able to teleport heavy equipment?"

"Limit per beam is four hundred pounds within a three foot radii by seven foot height, heavier and bulkier equipment must use a portal which we have few functioning ones left and those are two fixed way connections and are only seven feet by seven feet. Every thing else has to be transported by Cargo Ships."

"What about jamming for teleporting and portals?"

"It is possible, provided one has the proper frequencies with which to jam."

"Hmm, and here I was thinking of doing a Chrono Assault," Meyer chuckled.

Pluto gave Meyer a perplexed look, but instead of questioning him on it, she instead asked a different question. "Meyer I have noticed some of your men, testing the missiles from the Olympus Mons Armory, are marking my training grounds with red tape and Gunny White yelled at my Guardian Sprite when she entered the marked off area and reduced her to tears. Why is that as I still haven't been able to get my Guardian to come out of my room?"

"Backblast limits. It tells everyone to stay out of the marked area so they aren't flung back or killed by it."

"Why would you design such a dangerous effect into a weapon?"

"Because a shoulder recoil type weapon would break a man's shoulder. Its a design trade off and a useful general purpose weapon."

"Very well, I shall see you at Dinner."

"Till then," Meyer replied before leaving.

Once Meyer left, Pluto hit a button on her console to bring up Neo Queen Serenity. "Your Majesty, as instructed the Twentieth Marine Regiment is being refitted with the advanced weapons stored at the Olympus Mons Armory."

The future sovereign and goddess grimly nodded. "I have grave news, the Immortal Emperor has lost more ground. A race known as the Tyranids destroyed five of his Space Marine Chapters and wrecked several sectors in the past two months. Further, his life support is failing. He doesn't know how much longer he can hold."

"What about Small Lady, by now..."

"She won't be coming, nor will the other Princesses daughters either, the Black Moon Clan has never appeared here nor did Nemesis, even the Dead Moon Circus has failed to show up. If I had to guess, I say they took one look at the ongoing war and just fled for better pickings that or they died in the general chaos that existed in the current war. Even Galaxia didn't last long."

"Wait my Lady, the others..."

"Yes," Serenity smiled, somewhat blushing as she realized she had been rambling, "I can not explain without upsetting the circumstances, needless to say, we all have daughters in the future, even you, and at the same time."

Sailor Pluto blushed at the implications but dared not ask as to who the father would be or any further details.

…...

"Ami, I know you're in there. Your mother and Guardian Mercury are worried sick."

"Go away General Halverston." A weak voice came from inside the room.

Sighing, General Halverston stood up on his bad leg, clenched his teeth at the pain, and kicked in the heavy wooden door.

He was immediately greeted by the sight of a naked, red eyed, disheveled Ami and what were clearly empty bottles strewn across her bed. Ignoring the pain in his foot, General Halverston marched towards Ami's bed and picked up one of the bottles and smelled it. Just as he thought, it was alcohol. "How many," Halverston asked gently as he eased himself onto Ami's bed.

"Today, two. Its from my personal stash in this room, I was once a ruler of a vast realm."

"That may be so, but you can't hold your liquor, so where is it."

"This is my realm and this is my room, get out," Ami spoke turning hostile.

Halverston didn't lose his temper, but he fixed Ami with a firm stare, "Ami, I'm trying to help you. You haven't been eating, you ceased leaving this room, and now you are drinking, that is not healthy."

"Thirty million are dead, dead because you didn't trust us enough to do what we were born to do! I hate you!" Ami shouted before swinging away at General Haverston.

Wrapping Ami against him with his good arm, General Halverston ignored the pain shooting through him and waited Ami out. After a few moments Ami broke down crying in his arm.

General Halverston didn't bother saying anything as Dr. Mizuno, Dr. Tokugawa, and Guardian Mercury came into the room and took over. Getting up on his already abused body he left the room for his wheelchair and went back to his office.

It was an apologetic Princess Mercury that appeared later that night at dinner, but General Halverston merely smiled to see her there and assured her no further harm had come to him despite the the tremors of pain shooting through him.

…...

Queen Beryl ran her hands over the sleeping General Ermey's bare chest. Last night, he had been particularly vigorous in celebrating the massive victory won by the Negaverse. The energy flowing into Metallia was immense and at the current rate they would revive her soon. While it was regrettable the only nation they managed to convince to join them was no more, it had served its purpose and its volunteers were amongst her most fanatical fighters.

Getting up and out of bed, Beryl walked to her mirror and examined her naked body, paying particular attention to her belly. Though she hadn't told the general yet, she was pregnant with his child, the heir to their realm. Smiling, Queen Beryl set her sight on the future.

…...

Brevet Major General Douglas MacGregor stalked around the map table, studying it from all angles in Anazawa ES. He had just finished reorganizing his 1st Armored Division into four combined arms battlegroups consisting of one infantry battalion, one armored battalion, one aviation battalion, one artillery battalion, one support battalion, one combat engineer battalion and one company of scouts and one MP company.

When he took over the division three weeks ago and proposed this radical reorganization, the top brass exploded. Thankfully General Hackworth backed him up and got him a rear area to reorganize while the Brits took over along with the South Koreans.

Now the reorganization was complete, MacGregor and his four brigade commanders, two from the IJA, were burning with a desire for justice and victory.

…...

Prime Minister Urawa Hino looked over the city of Nagoya from his personal helicopter. With the loss of Tokyo Bay, Nagoya was the most important front line port for the war effort.

Even now, ships carrying the Syrian Expeditionary Force were unloading equipment. In normal times, they wouldn't have been welcomed, but with national survival at stake, Prime Minister Hino quite frankly didn't care who offered his help. So long as they were willing to fight the Negaverse, Mr. Hino wouldn't turn them away and as the international commitment grew, he would be able to send the 14 and 15 year olds to rear areas and soon send them out of the military altogether.

In the distance on the mountain slopes, heavy fighting could be seen as NATO Mountain Forces went at it with the Negaverse.

…...

A somber feeling hung across the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Once more the capital of Japan, the Palace had quickly been converted into a government building.

At its heart stood 34 year old Emperor Naruhito who had chosen the reign name of Desu ando Ribāsu. With over a quarter of his nation's people dead, refugees, or in occupied zones, the name fit. For death had come to Japan, but just as it had come in the World War, so to would come a time of rebirth.

Picking up his tea, the Emperor spoke to his guest. "It is good to hear that my people are adjusting well on the planets, Princess Venus, and efforts are already underway to expand the habdomes and terraform the planets Venus and Mars."

"Yes indeed, the engineers, geologists, and botanists on Mars have already turned in their initial reports and planting of Pine Trees is set to begin around the poles, however, unless we can somehow move Ceres into orbit of Mars, we won't have enough tidal pressure on the planet to maintain anything more than minimal habitability with life masks rather than full environment suits and the planet will remain too cold for crop planting, then there was a whole string of other needs that I can not make tales or hides out of. My own planet is proving to be more difficult to assess."

Emperor Naruhito fell into deep thought along with Princess Venus, despite the public faces they put forward, both were still trying to come to grips with the war's high cost and the still incapacitated Princess Serenity who constantly faded in and out of consciousness in Charon Castle. The moon princess had yet to be informed of the loss of the entire Kanto Plain for fear it may cause her to rashly use the Ginzuishou and thus kill herself in the process.

…...

Regent Eugene Cernan once again walked in the Sea of Serenity, but this time due to the awakening of Princess Serenity, the Eternity Main Computer kicked back in and the Moon Kingdom was restored as was before sans people. All it awaited was the return of its Royal Family. Till then, he was fulfilling a promise he made to the living avatar of the Goddess Selene in that, he would watch over and form a caretaker administration of her realm till Serenity and Endymion could ascend to the throne. To assist him, everyone of the surviving Apollo Program Astronauts had agreed to return to the Moon and await the return of their last best hope for Victory.

Sitting down on the discarded bottom of _Challenger, _the new regent of the Moon Kingdom looked upon the Earth and raised his binoculars up as Ronald Evans and Harrison Schmitt drove up on LRV-003.

"Ah, you finally managed to get it to work again, Schmitt." Regent Cernan smiled as he spoke.

"All we had to do was change the batteries Gene. By the way, Neil is thinking about going past the barrier towards Apollo Fifteen LS to recover LRV-zero zero three."

"Really, that is a nine hour mission with a drive through through the Mons Hadley Delta and the barrier ends at Joy Outpost. Any reason other than the LRV, hell we're just twenty feet away from the barrier right here?"

"Well probably because his landing site is three hundred thirty nautical miles south of us," Ronald spoke up.

"Well I suppose so, but check with Houston first, they may have a thing or two they want checked at the site."

…...

The alarm clock awoke Major Mamoru Chiba in his quarters aboard the _Royal Jupiter Star Ship Hurricane. _As the ship had no artificial gravity accept when accelerating or in a Ferris Wheel with the medbay, gym, and messhall, located deep in the ship, he had to unzip himself from his rack in his quarters he shared with three others. Using handrails he pushed himself up to his locker and got out his uniform. His roommates had different shifts and only one other was still sleeping currently in the room, USAF Major Valance Liberty. With his uniform clenched in his teeth, Mamoru pushed off the wall to the sonic shower.

Exiting his quarters ten minutes later, Major Chiba grabbed hold of the conveyor handle bars outside his hatch to move him towards the the rotating Ferris Wheel and the messhall located there.

Upon arriving in the messhall for breakfast, he noted that it was mostly empty at the moment, with perhaps thirty people present of the four thousand people crewing the ship. But as he started eating, the mess began filling up quickly.

"Captain Iwo, over here," Major Chiba called out as he spotted his subordinate in navigations.

"Morning sir, I'm guessing its the Delta V calculations?"

"Yes captain, I have finished them and I want you recheck them with me before we hand them to Colonel Dole. We got an hour before we begin accelerating to Mars to pick up the equipment there and we can not waste time by being off and having to correct course. So hurry up and eat."

"Yes sir."

It took about five minutes for them to finish their meals. Once done they went over the Delta V and Course calculations with their handheld computers before satisfying themselves with the calculations. After which they left, Captain Iwo to astrometrics and Major Chiba to CIC.

…...

Colonel Gregory Dole was still getting used to zero gravity in his command chair where he was strapped down as Major Chiba imputed the data to begin the two week journey to Mars.

"Alright, final checklist people," Colonel Dole began. "Engineering."

"Go," USN Captain Richard Cyril spoke from engineering via video phone.

"Weapons."

"Go," IJAF Lieutenant Colonel Keitaro Kenzaki, the XO, spoke from his station.

"Damage Control."

"Go," IJN Commander Emi Jizuro spoke from her control room.

"Navigation."

"Go." Major Chiba spoke.

"Alright, Io control, this is the Hurricane, we are go. Permission to proceed with journey," Colonel Dole called down to Io.

"Roger Hurricane, you are free to go, good luck and Godspeed."

"Alright, Major Chiba, take us out," Colonel Dole ordered.

"Beginning main sequence ignition in five, four, three, two, one. Ignition"

At the rear of the 700 meter long ship, the four massive Europa Engineering Mk. 37 fusion engines flared brightly to life, propelling the ship forward on its journey, first to Mars, then to Earth to turn the tide.

…...

All across America, the results of a five trillion dollar war budget could be seen.

With high praises from the field backed by expletive laced demands for more Javelins, the new FGM-148 Javelin ATGM rolled off the assembly line in droves and was promptly rushed by air to Japan.

The M-113 was discontinued in light of the disaster that befell the 82nd with all surviving surplus ordered to be scrapped and despite howls of outrage, Hackworth twisted arms and the factories were turning out Wiesels under license with pressure to produce something with better protection and firepower than the current Bradleys.

The YF-22 program had its budget quadrupled with a demand for it to be ready as soon as possible with the related Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF) program also being pushed forward by increased funding. To speed things up the stealth requirements were dropped for later installment in favor of a more powerful ECM suite.

With the F-18 and F-16 having been found wanting, those models were discontinued and their lines turned over to A-10 production. Also an OA-10 variant was being built to replace the OV-10 Broncos.

The joint direct attack munition (JDAM) project saw a quintuple increase in funding.

F-111s were re-designated B-111s and after initial misgivings the B-1 was ordered back into production due to a lack of anything else to produce to fulfill the heavy bomber role.

M1D Abrams Tanks rolled off the assembly lines, fitted with a more versatile 120mm rifled gun, a diesel engine, improved NBC protection, a coaxial .50cal, a pintle mounted 7.62mm minigun was placed by the loader's hatch with the option of taking it off for a regular 7.62mm machine gun, and the TC hatch had a 40mm grenade launcher, with the option of switching out for .50cal machine gun. Gun shields for the weapon mounts were provided along with mountings for optional claymores and for erecting an optional tank roof to protect against top attack. Fittings were also supplied for optional extra armoring should it be needed.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) having been tested in the traditional spotter aircraft role and found wanting, were canceled in favor of modernized OV-10s and O-1s.

Further UAV backers were sent to the front to redeem themselves for missing the entire damn point of manned observation planes. Which was to serve as a liaison between ground forces, support elements, and higher headquarters as well as observe. Since UAVs couldn't talk to the ground troops they couldn't serve as liaisons and since the operators had their bosses looking over their shoulders and directing them to where they wanted them to look, the UAV operators didn't have the freedom of observation plane pilots to free roam for possible targets, thus the UAV operators often failed to spot enemy formations and units paid for it. Those who did, couldn't warn nearby units in time due to numerous chains of command they had to go through to get the warning out.

Finally the clincher, the Negaverse jammed and/or hacked many an UAV's control systems rendering them useless, while the OV-10s and O-1s weren't hacked and if their communications were jammed, simply flew back to a base or artillery unit and pointed the problem area out on a map and/or worked around the jamming.

And this was the tip of the iceberg of an awoken giant with a runaway military budget.

…...

Princess Jupiter groaned as she went through another pile of administrative paperwork. With 500,000 refugees and military personnel living in her realm, it was a never ending struggle just to keep them healthy, fed, and supplied. "Guardian Jupiter, have the poll results come in yet for the Governor races?"

"Yes my lady," The holographic sprite spoke up from Jupiter's shoulder in disdain for the vulgar democracy Jupiter ordered instead of simply crowning new nobility for the refugees on Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

"Ah good, inform the winners then that they are come here immediately to be sworn in and to discuss the future."

"I'll see to it my lady."

The sprite then teleported away just as IJAF General Michio Sugahara entered her office.

"Ah, General Sugahara, I hope you have good news on Shoemaker-Levy Nine?"

"Afraid not your Highness, the comet is still projected to impact Jupiter in July and the comet is starting to break up into several pieces. If it does, we have just gotten the Defense Lasers working again and the comet will be in range of them on June sixteenth."

"Very well, and before I forget NASA requested we fix the antenna on the Galileo Probe when it arrives in December next year."

"Why? We can easily send them data ourselves, hell I was thinking of using it as target practice."

"Now General, its not nice to wreck other people's property," Jupiter teased with a mocking wagging finger.

…...

Reinstated Lieutenant Colonel David Petraeus stood before General Hackworth who was making him sweat a bit.

After a few minutes, Hackworth finally spoke. "Since I'm short officers and you redeemed yourself somewhat by writing a book on the lost battles of Vietnam and the mistakes that led to those defeats, I'm giving you a second chance."

"Thank you sir."

"Oh you won't be thanking me, not at all, report to Colonel Danny McKnight on Mars."

"Mars?"

Hackworth pressed a button on his desk, "Beam him up, Scotty." The expression on Petraeus's face as he dematerialized for transport was hilarious.

Returning to other tasks, Hackworth signed the order reestablishing the 2nd Infantry, 6th Infantry, and 2nd Armor Divisions. He also grudgingly created the Third Expeditionary Army under General Colin Powell a man he despised, but Clinton wanted Powell so Hackworth had no choice but to appoint him. At least Powell wasn't as stupid and timid as the misnamed "Stormin" Norman or General Franks, so perhaps he was being too harsh?

General Hackworth quickly squashed that ideal.

…...

Major General MacGregor stood by the situation map as 1st Expeditionary Army's general offensive started to get underway. His part of the plan was simple, surround and isolate Utsunomiya today in preparation for retaking the Kanto Plain. With the British having secured crossings across the river, his Division would pass through them, then split up into its four battlegroups to surround Utsunomiya.

Picking up his radio to the artillery net, General Macgregor gave the order, "Fire!"

…...

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel John A. Nagl, CO of 2nd Battalion 205th Infantry Regiment of Brevet Colonel Herbert Raymond McMaster's Battlegroup led the way down the Tohoku Expy which was a mess from the Alpha Strike by 120 MLRS which was the only warning the enemy got that the attack was underway as the tube artillery followed up with a walking bombardment as the Battlegroup began its attack.

Here and there, shellshocked Youma raised their hands in surrender and were directed to the rear as Colonel Nagl's battalion picked up speed as its attached Scout Company raced ahead to report on what lied ahead. Picking up a radio set to contact one of the battalion's assigned scout chopters, "Scout three seven, this is Knife Six, shoot ahead to Mount Myoken and assess the area."

"Roger Knife Six, wilco."

The scout chopter immediately sped off down the road. Overhead the British Marines 3 Commando Brigade was assaulting Mount Haguro.

Smiling, Colonel Nagl felt things couldn't be better. Then bright light swallowed his command and he knew no more.

…...

"Alright McMaster, you can proceed through as a reconnaissance in force, but spread out your remnants and use solid judgment. We'll pay them back double, MacGregor out."

"Sir, General Hackworth is on the line."

General MacGregor picked up the phone, "Macgregor here."

"Sitrep."

"McMaster's battlegroup lost half its infantry battalion along with its CO plus a fifth of its birds, McMaster is still pushing forward as a recon force till I can throw together reinforcements for him."

"Very well, don't let up the pressure, but spread out."

…...

General Hackworth hung up the phone and picked up the updated targeting list provided by Stuart Slade and dialed up the President. After three rings, the President picked up.

"This is the President, please don't be Hackworth."

"This is General Hackworth."

"Fuck it, nuclear launch approved," There was a click.

Picking up another phone, Hackworth called up Admiral Hitchenson.

…...

Twenty minutes after Hackworth sent out his call, the USS Ohio launched UGM-133 Trident II deployed eight W88 warheads which slammed into the Negaverse Supply Base in Oamimachi situated in a valley just west of Mount Myoken. The area also had the Funyu Highway, Nikko Road, and Nikko Highway running through it and the ground bursts severed those connections. Three thousand Youma and five hundred Japanese citizens pressed into slavery were killed in the blasts.

All across the front a new round of Gas Warfare began in retaliation causing all offensives to halt on both sides.

…...

**Six Weeks Later**

Usagi woke up again, but this time clear headed and not prone to unconsciousness, to see Luna curled up asleep in her lap. "Luna,"

The cat stirred and looked up at her charge and dear friend. "Usagi-chan, it is..." Luna stopped in mid sentence as she stared at Usagi's head.

"What's wrong Luna?"

"Usagi-chan, look in the mirror."

"Okay," A perplexed Usagi answered as she faced the mirror. She was suddenly taken aback as she noticed her reflection in the mirror. Usagi brought her hand up to her forehead and traced the Crescent Moon on her forehead. Turning to her friend and mentor Luna, Usagi spoke with uncertainty, "Luna?"

Luna cursty as well as her body could do so, "Welcome back your Majesty."

A gold tiara with red and white accents materialized in front of Usagi and floated down to her hands. The crown featured a central winged, crowned, heart with a central red faceted jewel. The heart was flanked by decorations on each side with a larger red beveled jewel flanked by two smaller white jewels. The band bended up at each end, with a large beveled jewel at the bend, and then narrowed before finishing in a larger spiral shape.

As Usagi grasped it, she immediately saw a vision of the Immortal Emperor upon the Golden Throne.

"Greetings Serenity, my time is near an end, but before I go, consider this a Coronation Gift." The Emperor pulled forth a gold engraved longsword. "This sword has served me well on ten thousand battlefields, there is no foe it can not defeat. May it serve you well."

Serenity took the offered sword, "Thank you."

But the Emperor was swallowed by darkness and the vision faded, leaving Serenity holding the Emperor's Sword.

"Luna get the others, this war has gone on too long."

"Yes your Majesty." Luna hopped off the bed and left the room.

Picking up her Eternal Moon Compact, Serenity removed the Ginzuishou and placed the silver faceted jewel on her Moon Wand which immediately extended to form a staff. Placing the Tiara on her head, Neo Queen Serenity admired her new dress for a moment as her upper and lower wings unfolded from her back.

…...

Gamebreak by jumping the shark much? I suppose this is as good a time as any other for Ascension.


	6. Ascension

Episode Six: Ascension

Major Chiba held the Conn as the _Hurricane_ began its final week of deceleration to Earth carrying the U.S. 20th Marine Regiment (Colonel Carlton Meyer), U.S. 75th Ranger Regiment (Colonel Danny McKnight), and the IJAA Third Aviation Regiment (Colonel Otomi Tokugawa). A total of 15,000 men equipped from the Olympus Mons Armory.

Shifting in the command chair that he was strapped in, Major Chiba picked up his water bottle and took a drink as he studied the holographic displays. For the most part it was ingrained habit, as most of space was empty and any threats would be throwing out huge amounts of heat from its radiators and engines that it would be visible for well, long enough for this ship to spend several months getting ready to attack or defend with its thirty missile batteries. Which was a good thing as despite Princess Jupiter's assumptions, the _RJSS_ _Hurricane _was more an armed troopship than a dedicated space battleship. A lot of space was given over to storing weapons, supplies, and men, plus tactical indo/exospheric transports to deploy troops and tanks, dedicated Gunships to support them and being towed by telescoping airlocks were four large 70 meter long landing shuttles which could serve in a pinch as strategic bombers.

In a word, this was mostly boring routine. In four days they would pass the moon and on the fifth day be in orbit of Earth.

Then Major Chiba felt it, a feeling that was hard to explain to others. But it was there and for the first time in over a month Mamoru Chiba smiled, "Serenity."

"Sir?" Captain Masaki spoke from the weapons station.

His answer as well as the rest of the CIC crew's came in a bright light that enveloped Major Chiba whose uniform gave way to ceremonial armor. A golden crystal appeared and became encased in a crown that settled on King Endymion's head. This was followed by the appearance of a gold inlayed sword appearing, the sword of the Immortal Emperor. King Endymion took the sword.

…...

Colonel Dole was enjoying a game of Zero Gravity Ball. With nothing but Newtonian Physics being the limit, his five man Air Force Team rebounded off the walls on the offensive with the ball against the outclassed Ranger Team led by Lt. Colonel Petraeus.

Colonel Dole had just scored his sixth goal when the intercom came to life, "Colonel Dole. High priority message for you."

"Shit, game over guys," Colonel Dole told the beaten Ranger Team with their embarrassing zero score to the Air Force's 50 goals. Bringing his communicator up, Colonel Dole answered the messenger, "Alright, I'll take it in my quarters."

It took ten minutes for Colonel Dole to negotiate his way to his quarters. Once there, he activated his personal line. "Colonel Dole here."

"Ah Colonel, this is General Horner, we have you on screen and on time. Just want you to know that as you fly by the moon a shuttle will be joining you there with Neo Queen Serenity and the Planetary Princesses. Make sure they are cared for."

"I understand General and congratulations on your promotion to General of the Air Force."

"Thank you Colonel, and don't screw this up. The Navy is waiting for any chance to steal the Space Defense role from us and it will be a cold day in hell before I let Fleet Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda takes that from us."

"I understand sir."

"Horner out."

Looking at the clock, Colonel Dole decided to eat dinner in the mess before catching rack time for his shift tomorrow.

…...

To say General of the Army Colin Powell and General of the Army David Hackworth didn't like each other was an understatement and the tension between them could be cut with a knife. So General Nishi, Chief of the Imperial Japanese Military, sat between them.

A grand total of 27 Generals and Admirals were also in the room from seven separate countries for planning Operation Vengeance.

On the map table, 4,345 target circles marked the effects of the planned opening nuclear time-on-target bombardment to smash the Negaverse's defenses in the highly mountainous areas they would be advancing in. Additional markers indicated assigned kill boxes for the saturation bombardment by every MRLS that could be brought to the table.

Out to sea, 27 Navies waited for the word to sail into Sagami and Tokyo Bay to kick in the door from that direction with over 400,000 Marines and Sailors waiting in Assault Transports.

From space, the _RJSS Hurricane_ would deploy its air mobile division, backed up by the husbanded Air Assault Units formed for this operation.

Three Million Soldiers from 42 Nations would then sweep over the devastated landscape to mop up with seven million in reserve. The single largest concentration of manpower since WW2.

Air support would be provided by 16,000 Aircraft of all types flying round-the-clock sorties to hammer any and all targets of opportunity.

The Russian observer throughout all of this remained silent. His presence was a mere formality to assure the Russians they weren't going to be on the receiving end of the massive opening barrage of Nuclear Ordinance.

Also should any further nuclear ordinance be ordered used, the Russian Observer could inform his superiors ahead of time.

The only unresolved X-Factors were Neo Queen Serenity and the mysterious entity known as Metallia.

Everything else including NOAA's assessment of the weather patterns from all the nukes and soon to be used nukes going off were accounted for, with the International Red Cross being informed to stockpile supplies for an especially harsh winter.

…...

Princess Mercury stood nearby as her friend and sovereign Neo Queen Serenity wept, in her mother's arms, at finally being informed of the massive death toll that occurred while she been out. Even she, Princess Mercury was still coming to grips with the massive waste in lives and the continuing fallout that stemmed from that fateful firefight at Hikawa Shrine.

Mercury dreaded having to inform Serenity of what the military was going to do next. As if they had no better ideals than simply hammering the enemy with their plan to turn central Honshu into a nuclear wasteland just to smash the Negaverse. General Halverston tried to justify it to her, but she walked out on him and he didn't bother bringing it up again.

Serenity stood up and wiped her eyes, turning to Mercury, her eyes shone with determination. "I will defeat them in the name of the Moon!"

…...

Lieutenant General Douglas MacGregor patted his third star, and for capturing Utsunomiya with flying colors with his Battlegroup ideal despite the initial setback... The third star was made permanent and came with command of XII Corps and the honor of leading the upcoming offensive for First Army.

Since the promotion a month ago, he had wasted no time reorganizing his three divisions into twelve independent combined arms battlegroups commanded by a Colonel. He chose nothing but the best, hardcore, independent, and aggressive men to command them and threw out quite a few men in his reorganization.

Checking his watch, Macgregor smiled. Twenty four hours to go before Vengeance hour.

Looking outside his office he checked on the work detail of enemy prisoners of war clearing rubble from the wrecked city under the watchful eye of MPs.

…...

Colonel Meyer formed an improvised Honor Guard at Airlock Five as the shuttle carrying the Planetary Princesses and Neo Queen Serenity approached to dock. Glancing at King Endymion, Meyer noted the smile on his face. As well as he should, a new age was about to begin as Humanity settled once and for all that it would not bow to tyrants and madness. Sending a glance to Sergeant Major Hammerstedt, Meyer stood at attention as much as one could do in zero g which ruled out most of the usual ceremony as trying to do them would be impracticable, space ships weren't navy ships after all.

"Attention!" Hammerstedt announced. The ten Marines snapped to attention as the airlock opened.

Meyer forced back down his shock, he had thought the Neo Queen Serenity deal was just a name change and change of clothes, but this. Well Endymion was well and truly a lucky bastard as the very vision of what a goddess should look like entered the ship surrounded by her court of the Planetary Princesses in their robes of state.

The Queen and her court's magic allowed them to effortlessly float where they wanted in zero g and they quickly approached Endymion holding a grail in her left hand and her Moon Staff in her right. Smiling at her love, Serenity spoke as she held out the grail to Endymion, "I am the Messiah of Light."

Taking the grail, Endymion drank from it and spoke, "I am the Guardian of Humanity."

Both the Golden Crystal and Ginzuishou shone bright. For the next part of the ceremony, Princess Venus took the Holy Moon Grail and handed Neo Queen Serenity the Holy Moon Sword. Colonel Meyer handed King Endymion the former sword of the Immortal Emperor.

The two Sovereigns held the swords in front of them. Both swords shone bright with energy. The Holy Moon Sword with the love the Lunarians had for Life and Humanity and the Emperor's Sword with its desire to protect Humanity from the darkness that threatened it with extinction. Sensing a common goal the two swords approached each other and melded into one.

"Our love has created the Holy Sword of Humanity. A shining light that will banish the Darkness that threatens all we hold dear. I gift it to you so Humanity may be saved." Serenity spoke as she handed the sword to King Endymion.

"With it, I will protect Humanity so it may prosper and inherit the future."

Both sovereigns closed the distance and kissed.

…...

"Serenity, Endymion and Meyer! You are asking me to call off a major offensive that took a month to plan and is set to begin in eighteen hours for a decapitation strike that may or may not work?" General Hackworth spoke over the secure channel.

"Yes General," Neo Queen Serenity spoke.

"Hot damn, looks like you have picked up a thing or two after all. Very well, you have less than eighteen hours to accomplish the mission. Once the SLBMs are launched, they can not be recalled and we won't be able to shoot most of them down."

"Then we'll make sure we win in time," Serenity spoke.

…...

Colonel Dole adjusted the spin of the _Hurricane_, using its 20 maneuvering engines to spin it creating centrifugal force to hurl the attack transports carrying the strike force out the landing bay without losing his rendezvous with Earth. 'Godspeed and kick some ass.'

…...

Colonel Meyer was glad for the harness keeping him secure in his seat.

"Shit, I'll never complain about jumping from a plane again," Major Yin spoke from his seat.

"Well we just have an unexpected turbulence to go through next as we teleport outside our objective," Colonel Meyer answered.

"Mercy."

…...

In space waiting for the transports, were the Sailor Scouts, Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion. Their magic protecting them from the vacuum of space.

"Its time," Serenity spoke.

"Right," The scouts answered as they held their hands together and concentrated.

Almost immediately a massive portal opened up and just in time as the transports holding the Rangers and Marines hurtled past them and into the portal one after the other in rapid succession. Once the last one passed them, the scouts and the sovereigns followed suit.

Their first site of the Negaverse realm was pure chaos as the Third Aviation Regiment tore into the concentrations of portal generators, supply depots, and troop concentrations while deploying the Rangers and Marines.

"We'll kick in the door, you finish the rest, Urrah!" Meyer's voice came over the radio.

"Alright, stay close to me, I'll lead us through Endymion spoke.

Serenity and the scout acknowledged and followed Endymion at the run as the military ripped apart the opposition with fanatical fury.

Loud explosion echoed across the sky as ammo and fuel dumps exploded, body parts rained down around them and fierce war cries split the air along with orders barked out over the radio by American and Japanese Officers.

Up ahead laid Queen Beryl's Castle.

…...

Lighting his cigar with the pilot light on his flame thrower, General Lee Ermey then laid it down and burned the ground in front of several retreating Youma, halting their retreat. "Alright jackwipes, turn back around and fight or I'll gouge out your eyeballs and skull fuck you!"

Deciding that fighting their attackers was a better option, the Youma did as General Ermey ordered.

Dropping the flame thrower, General Ermey picked up a SA-18 and fired it at a Gunship. Watching it effortlessly dodge and turn towards him, General Ermey had only a few seconds to rage before 20mm rounds tore him apart. With his death, what little organization of the Negaverse's defenses that remained, shattered.

…...

Lieutenant Colonel David Petraeus charged across the landscape gunning down Youma as he did so. His battalion followed behind him. With his reputation heavily tarnished by General Hackworth, Petraeus burned with the desire to restore it and get his career back on track. To do that he figured that storming the castle and killing or capturing Queen Beryl was just the thing to do it.

Using his fully enclosed combat suit's targeting system, he designated the heavy doors as a target to a nearby Marine Tank, which responded to his request by promptly blasting the door in before returning to its assigned tasks.

"Come on Rangers, you want the Marines to have the bragging rights or worse the Sailor Scouts?"

"Hoo-ah!" Was the reply serving as an affirmative no and an affirmative that they not those others would get the bragging rights.

With that Petraeus led the way into the outer courtyard and immediately began engaging the defenders in an intense firefight.

…...

Colonel Meyer directed his Regiment to thunder run across the plains to continue hitting and destroying the Negaverse's portals with maximum violence. The Rangers could support Serenity and Endymion in clearing out the Castle considering they were light infantry as opposed to his mechanized troops.

"McKnight, good luck, we'll continue to keep them off balance and block reinforcements," Colonel Meyer radioed.

"I hear ya Meyer, good luck and kick some ass."

Meyer smiled underneath his helmet from inside his command vehicle as he coordinated his Regiment's attacks. Across his face plate, a holographic display, similar to Mercury's goggles but limited to military applications and hardened, updated him on the flow of battle and enabled him to designate targets and variety of other command options. The only limit was his ability to quickly assess the data and render a decision.

And his decision was push the attack boldly up the enemy's portal chain to choke off the Negaverse's ability to reinforce its forces on Earth should they fail here and prevented those forces from coming here to save their Queen or retreat from Earth.

As he did so his Marines and the Third Aviation Regiment destroyed portal after portal, depot after depot, and wiped out or scattered troop concentration after troop concentration.

Negaverse minions were surrendering in droves. Even if Serenity and Endymion failed to take down Beryl and Metallia, the war was already won as they would no longer have a means to travel to Earth or anywhere else.

…...

Petraeus kicked in another door and unloaded his rifle into the room as his team had already used up all its grenades and captured stock. Finding this room empty, Petraeus cursed and moved to another door in the room and kicked it in as his team watched his back. It was the last mistake of his life and for his team as the booby trapped door set off the hidden claymore mines in the room. The thousands of metal balls easily found weak spots in their armor and tore limbs off causing them to bleed out.

…...

Colonel McKnight fired another grenade around the corner of the hall. With no arches to take cover behind, hall clearing was becoming a bitch. As his team moved past him to exploit the opening, McKnight took another grenade out and loaded it into his rifle's attached grenade launcher. Something in this castle, he didn't know what, was effecting their communications and he had quickly lost contact with his various units. He could only hope they weren't being picked off piecemeal. 'Damn, out of all Evil Overlords, she has to be the one to take rule sixty two seriously.'

…...

Serenity tapped her staff to the ground destroying several Youma in the process. At her side, Endymion used his service pistol to rapid fire his roses into Youma, killing them.

The Senshi behind them watched their backs. Here and there, they came across dead Rangers and sometimes entire squads that had been wiped out. Including a group in a room marked control room but looked like an execution chamber instead.

Echoing throughout the castle they could hear firefights breaking out and ending and then starting up again.

"Guys I feel we are getting close. There is a massive energy source coming from below." Mercury spoke up as she analyzed the various readings from her goggles.

"Very well that is where we will go." Endymion answered as he took the lead.

A massive explosion shook the castle causing all of them to hit the ground.

"Sitrep!" The scouts heard over the radio channels used by the Rangers followed by a flurry of radio messages as the Ranger's reported the jamming was gone.

"This doesn't sound good guys, the Rangers are down to only two hundred men." Mercury announced as she recorded the Radio chatter.

Everyone looked at each other. The Rangers had been 5,000 strong when they launched this attack and had taken on the brunt of the defenders here. Sharing concerned glances they moved on, more would die if they did not end this war.

Taking a stairwell they descended into the dungeons. They encountered no resistance as they came before a Black Orb, twice as big as a human head, bristling with dark energy and malice.

"This seems most unseemly, no final showdown, no one liners." Sailor Pluto spoke up.

Pulling out the Holy Sword of Humanity, Endymion brought it down on the orb killing Metallia. "That was kind of the whole point of this mission. Cold and fast with no time for the enemy to recover or prepare."

Seeing Pluto's perplexed look, King Endymion just shrugged and added, "Beryl no longer matters now, without Metallia, she is just a high level mage with delusions of grandeur. We should inform General Hackworth of our success."

"Eeep, forgot," Serenity exclaimed as she brought out her communicator.

…...

Queen Beryl exited her escape pod with Christine and her personal servants. While her defeat had been devastating, she was at least alive and by living she had a chance to rebuild her Kingdom. Pulling out her copy of the Rules of the Evil Overlord, Queen Beryl headed off towards a nearby Youma settlement to begin anew.

…...

As ranking General, Jaedite signed the Instrument of Surrender for the twenty million Youma still under arms on Earth aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on June 6, 1994. With overwhelming firepower arrayed against him and no prospects of reinforcements, Jaedite really had no choice.

So in a Ceremony reminiscent of the one that took place nearly a half century ago with Prime Minister Hino even giving a modified version of MacArthur's speech while waves of planes from numerous nations flew overhead, including the new F-22s, the surrender was formalized.

In the tumult following the signing Sailor Pluto found Colonel Meyer on the fantail staring at the Crescent Moon visible in the sky.

"You turned down the Pentagon job," Pluto stated.

Turning to face her, Colonel Meyer gave her a sad smile as he spoke, "I would have ended up a Brigadier General in three years and be in way over my head. Nah, I'll be retaining command of the Twentieth Marines. There are many doctrines that have to be worked out for the Space Marine program started for it. Since I'm the one who kicked it off, I should be the one to develop it over the next twelve years now that "Up or Out" is abolished. Besides, I still have yet to complete my Master of Military Studies due to my rapid promotion."

"Is that important, the Masters?"

"Hell yeah, do you even have any ideal how much paper work a Regiment goes through and the difficulties of having to plan a multi-faceted operation involving potentially all branches of the military? I'm been doing this all by ear so far. Then again isn't war playing everything by ear with but the loosest guidelines?"

"No, I can say I do not, probably why my military was lost in the Silver Millennium."

"In any case, answer me this at least before I go out with grave registrations to recover my fallen still out there so they can return home to their families. What is Serenity and Endymion's next move?"

…...

King Endymion held Serenity close as they viewed the destroyed city that had once been so full of life. Around them Senshi, military personnel, and disarmed Youma milled about in the devastation, many in shock. Serenity had already lowered the radiation to normal levels across the country, but her full powers were not yet accessible and wouldn't be till she and Endymion married and formally took the throne on the Moon, so the devastated landscape remained with the wreckage of war and unburied bodies.

Though quite a few of her schoolmates had been saved by Rei, especially Naru, many were not.

"Urawa!" Mercury's excited voice drew Serenity's attention to a group of IJA Soldiers loading confiscated weapons from the Youma aboard their trucks while others were eating. As she looked closer, she realized the ones eating were mostly too young to be soldiers as Mercury hugged one of them who was returning the favor.

Coming upon them, joyful tears came to Serenity's eyes as she noticed several boys from her school including Umino who was eating on the hood of a Humvee. Naru would be so happy to know he was alive.

Suddenly a vision came to Serenity of a beautiful city reborn upon this very spot. A place full of life and love where lovers dreams came true. A place where children's laughter could be heard. Finally a lasting monument for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that humanity could live. And playing amongst its many gardens was a beautiful girl with pink hair held up in two odangos and a floating toy the child referred to as Luna-P that looked so much like Luna.

Feeling Endymion's hands on her shoulder, Serenity looked up at her love and smiled as she realized he saw the vision as well. "I'm alright, everything will be alright now that this cruel war is over." Resting her head against Endymion's chest, Serenity dreamed of the future.

…...

Urawa Ryo patted Sailor Mercury's back as she continued to joyfully weep on his shoulder at seeing him alive. "Its okay, I'm alive."

"I know," Mercury spoke as before kissing Urawa, taking him completely by surprise despite his forewarning vision.

Immediately both due to their contact saw a vision of a beautiful crystal city and found themselves in a park. Nearby twins with blue hair were chasing butterflies. The girls were having so much fun and were so alive in contrast to the currently dead city they were in.

All a sudden they stopped and turned to them and smiled before the vision ended.

"Take your time private with your girlfriend," A sergeant spoke up breaking the mood and causing Urawa and Mercury to blush.

…...

Sailor Venus found her apartment building to be a heap of rubble and ordinance disposal teams removing unexploded bombs and shells from the area. Artemis and Luna had left together a few minutes ago, so she was here by herself.

"Only consolation is all the hot guys too old to consider dating me." Venus depressingly spoke to herself.

Suddenly Venus saw a vision of a crystal courtyard of a beautiful crystal palace with a group of irate off duty guards with blackened faces, sucker darts on them, and ruined dress uniforms. Their leader was holding up a chibi version of herself who herself was holding a toy (ball?) that looked superficially like Artemis.

"Mom, honestly, me and Artemis-P had nothing to do with this prank ambush. We just happened to be hiding in the bushes for a completely unrelated game." The chibivenus spoke up with an innocent looking face that wasn't at all convincing while the toy seem to nod in agreement with this version of events.

Around the courtyard, several guards were visibly trying not to laugh at the misfortune of their comrades and may had have been in on the prank itself.

Coming out of the vision, Venus immediately recognized one of the IJA privates on guard as the staff sergeant in the vision holding up Sailor Chibivenus. Shaking her head, Sailor Venus began laughing hysterically with joy to onlookers' confusion.

…...

Sailor Mars, her grandpa, and Yuichiro picked through the rubble of Hikawa Shrine. The only thing standing intact with which to identify the shrine was the sacred tree containing the still alive Phobos and Deimos who greeted them enthusiastically.

In despair, Mars sat down on what used to be her room and placed her face in her hands, weeping.

A child's laughter startled her and she looked up to find herself in a restored Hikawa Shrine set in the midst of a beautiful crystal city. In front of the shrine house a little girl in a kimono was playing Hanetsuki with her grandpa who missed the return swing.

Sensing her approach, the girl turned and waved, "Mommy!"

"Rei, what did you see," Rei's granpa asked bringing her out of the vision.

Looking to her only real relative, Rei smiled. "Your great granddaughter playing in the restored shrine."

Grandpa Hino smiled in return, "Now that is a good vision. Yuichiro!"

"Yes Master!" The startled apprentice answered from his spot near the destroyed bridge.

"Stop moping around and help me remove all the debris and rebuild! Children will be coming here again and I do not want this place looking like a ruin."

"Yes master," Yuichiro responded as he began picking up debris.

Laughing, Sailor Mars pitched in to help.

…...

Sailor Jupiter took a break from her depressing walk through the rubble near an IJA Tank whose crew was fixing a doser blade attached to it. Noting the thirty kill rings on the barrel, Jupiter whistled attracting the attention of the crew.

"Makoto." The 19 year old tank sergeant spoke as he noticed, Jupiter's presence with dread.

Advancing on the tank sergeant, Jupiter slapped him across the face. "That was for leaving me in the rain to join the military, Tomoyuki," Jupiter spoke before bear hugging the shocked tank sergeant.

Immediately a vision assailed her of mud puddle in a park located on this spot with a crystal city in the background. In the puddle all muddied stood a girl holding a young boy in a headlock and berating him for pulling her hair and messing it up. Sensing her presence, the girl dropped the boy and blushed, "I can explain mom."

Snapping out of the vision, Jupiter release her captive from her bear hug and slapped him on the back. "Don't ever leave me in the rain again Tomoyuki."

…...

Sailor Saturn sat next to her father on the blasted remains of Tokyo's waterfront. In the bay, numerous ships were bringing in heavy construction equipment, supplies, and loading up with rubble.

As Saturn fell into further depression along with her father, a vision came to her of a reborn city made of beautiful crystal, lit up brilliantly at light for the Tenno Matsuri Festival.

On the shore with her father, putting a paper lantern boat in the bay, was a small girl in a kimono. Turning around, the girl smiled and pulled on Saturn's father's sleeve. "Granpa, mommy is here."

Coming out of the vision, Saturn smiled. "We'll rebuild, grander than before dad."

Turning to face his daughter, Professor Tomoe smiled for the first time that day. "You're right,"

…...

Uranus and Neptune also saw the vision of the future and their daughters, Chibiuranus and Chibineptune and the pure havoc and fun of their prank wars throughout the Crystal Palace.

Snapping out of the vision, Sailor Uranus commented on the vision. "Do you think we should heed the warning and reign them in?"

"No, if anything, it will make up for the current lack of children's laughter now." Neptune replied as she closed in to kiss her lover.

In moments, they forgot about the devastation around them and elicited cheers from a work crew of IJA Engineers.

…...

Sailor Pluto picked up the hologram her future self had sent her. Though she was not told yet who the father was and did not want to know yet, she was gifted with a picture of her daughter flashing the V sign in her Sailor Chibipluto uniform in the upper fountains of the Crystal Palace.

Pluto's future self was in the background in her eternal form. She assumed the hologram was taken by the father.

Looking around Pluto marveled at how quickly humanity started to recover from their shock and despair in the ruined city and begin rebuilding operations. Everything was going to be alright, and despite the devastating war, humanity would arise stronger and able to take on Chaos and finally defeat it.

Spotting Luna and Artemis, Pluto was happy to note that they seemed at peace. No doubt having received the same series of visions from the future as the other Senshi did. Though for the Mau natives cases it was of two kittens. One destined for Small Lady and the other Chibivenus.

However, Sailor Pluto tempered this with the knowledge that an even worse war lay in the future and that their children would be vital in combating the spiritual nature of Chaos while the Military smashed its physical manifestations.

The Phoenix had been delayed, but it would come again. In her eyes, Pluto saw worlds burn. The question though was did humanity have a fighting chance? Pluto felt they did and so did her sovereigns.

…...

All across the Kanto Plain, the Japanese Alps, and in the air, with the sounds of war ceased... Life began to start anew as birds flew over devastated landscapes. Lizards having taken shelter as the first shells started to fly, came up now that the worst was over. Deer and other wild creatures entered back into the area cautiously and began making their way back to their old stomping grounds.

For humanity, despite the devastation, they too started to live and love again as they cleared away the rubble and recovered and mourned their dead.

For the Youma stranded on Earth, Humanity showed both its compassion and desire for justice.

Six hundred Negaverse Generals including Jaedite were to be tried for a variety of War Crimes from crimes against peace to crimes against humanity. The remainder were giving a choice, repatriation via Neo Queen Serenity or swear oaths of allegiance to the Japanese Emperor and abide by the law as Japanese citizens.

Considering repatriation would mean certain death at the hands of Beryl, despite assurances to the contrary, almost every Youma chose the second option.

The war also had other effects as well.

Global Warming was halted in its tracks from the use of nuclear weapons and the massive death toll arising from the removal of a major industrial and port region.

The world economy took a tumble and required massive Government Infrastructure Projects in Japan, the unified Korean Peninsula, and the U.S. to jump start it again.

President Clinton suffered politically for the way the war was handled in Congress. But the American people put the blame squarely on Congress and elected entirely new Congressmen and women who immediately began passing campaign reform laws that created term limits and allowed only public funds to be used in campaigns and banned political TV ads. Also passed were comprehensive reform laws that affected everything in America, and reversed entirely the damage done by the Reagan Administration's deregulation era.

Lieutenant General Douglas MacGregor took over Training and Doctrine Command at the conclusion of the war, where he was instrumental in transforming the Army into a more flexible and harder hitting force. Under the MacGregor era as it would come to be known, the Division level of command was dropped from the Army and the Corps became the next highest command after the Battlegroup. This was made easier and manageable thanks to increasing digitalization of headquarters due to the reverse engineering of Sailor Mercury's goggles and computer plus the advanced gear created before the dawn of the Silver Millennium.

Also the Army's Officer Corps was shrunken during this time as the draft came into effect again. A goal of one officer for every twenty enlisted was set. This was achieved by asking young second lieutenants to accept NCO rank as a condition of staying in or take unpaid reserve status. Warrant Officers lost their status as officers and became SNCOs or accepted retirement. Line companies were commanded by Majors with a Captain as XO and three lieutenants, 1st Lieutenant was dropped as a rank, with a SNCO commanding the weapons platoon. Support companies (exceptions medical, JAG, and chaplaincy) had their platoons commanded by SNCOs with the CO directly commissioned as a Captain after twenty years of service as an enlisted man. This became easier and easier to accomplish as humanity became functionally immortal due to Neo Queen Serenity's Ascension. Thus allowing longer service, lower wages, and more experienced SNCO and Officer Corps which saw fewer promotions and rotations resulting in company commanders having as much as five hundred years experience in later centuries.

The United States Air Force never recovered from the ambush of its Heavy Bombers and was disestablished in 1996 and absorbed along with the Air National Guard and USN and other services around the world into the newly created Space Force under Space Marshal Horner after Boorda committed suicide after it was found that the former Admiral was wearing a V devices on his Navy Commendation Medal and Navy Achievement Medal that he was not entitled to.

The U.S. Marine Corp was also, to much weeping and gnashing of teeth, disbanded and absorbed into the U.S. Army with the exception of the Twentieth Regiment, which along with the IJA Third Aviation Regiment, was assigned to Neo Queen Serenity, King Endymion, and the Planetary Princesses as a Royal Guard under command of Master of the Silver Guards Carlton Meyer. Though officially known as the Silver Guards, most would nostalgically call them the Space Marines and they would continue to carry on the traditions and spirit of the Marine Corps while developing entirely new ones.

In space, the survivors, of the disastrous Battle of Kanto, for the most part remained in the colonies and formed the basis for humanity's push into the stars.

The future remains uncertain, but so long as there are dreamers, there is a new day.


	7. New Day

Episode Seven: New Day

September 10, 1994 held little real meaning on Pluto, HQ of the Silver Guards.

With the so called Crystal Tokyo Charter signed three days ago, Tokyo Bay was given to Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion to redevelop in exchange for considerable technology exchanges and financing from the Moon Kingdom and its associated Principalities. Included in the deal was the U.S. Twentieth Marine Regiment and IJA Third Aviation Regiment to form the Silver Guards.

Currently though, only the 400 strong HQ Battalion was here with Master of the Silver Guards Carlton Meyer commanding and his organization was driving Sailor Pluto nuts.

"You're dividing the Silver Guards into nine chapters of 1,600 men?" Pluto asked in shock.

"Yes, as the shipyards on Io complete the refitting of _Thunderstorm _and finish construction of the eight other vessels, I'll be splitting up the Guard into combined arms chapters so they can serve as a rapid reaction forces to support the separately trained Palace Guards or do surgical strikes on any threat that poses itself against the court of Neo Queen Serenity." Master Meyer spoke.

"But what about prolonged actions?"

"That is what the Army is for. The goals of my organization is to get in fast and get out fast with the objective accomplished."

Sailor Pluto sat back and drank her tea as Master Meyer continued to diagram his organization while they discussed it. "Still why forgo the sustained fight capability?" Pluto asked again, trying to fathom the madness Meyer was engaged in.

Meyer sighed, "Okay, let me put it this way. What is the mission of the Silver Guards?"

"Find the enemies of the Queen and deal with them before they become too powerful."

"Okay, now most of the time, thats a surgical strike mission to kill the leader and his command staff. But if we mess up due to bad intelligence, then staying in the belly of the beast while they slam us from all sides is not a good ideal even with better staying power. So prudence would dictate a hasty retreat till another opportunity arises or leaving it to the Army which has a vast logistics base to win an attrition battle. Its important not to make the mistake of the Marine Corps after WW2 and allow mission creep to mess up our main job and objective."

"Wouldn't that be seen as cowardice?"

"Pluto, my job is to accomplish the objective and win the war. It is not to win battles and further my own glory or honor. Such concepts of glory and honor really have no place on the battlefield."

"I see," Pluto answered without actually seeing any point in his logic and being appalled by it.

Sensing that, Meyer again sighed. "Pluto, I have a duty to defend against the enemies of the state and I will do what is necessary to defend the state and serve humanity as well as preserve the welfare of my men who trust me to get them out of the fights I get them into. In order to do that, I need a clearly defined objective and mission and can only stray from it under the most dire of circumstances."

"Of that I have no doubt Master Meyer."

Meyer checked his watch, "Well my working lunch is over, so I'm heading down to the range to oversee the requalification of my officers."

"You don't mind if I tag along?"

"Not at all, this is still your realm, just don't forget your ear protection again if you don't want another bout of tinnitus."

…...

Neo Queen Serenity, her finance King Endymion, the Planetary Princesses, and their Families were still getting over the shock at just how much wealth they had as Regent Eugene Cernan posted the revised figures from the surveys. They had already had a massive line of credit from what was available in their Castles and associated technology, but it never occurred to them just how much their realms held in resources and 20% of it was Serenity's by ancient tribute laws.

Still they had capitalized on it right away in purchasing the rights to Tokyo Bay and a say in the rebuilding of the Sagami Gulf in the Crystal Tokyo Charter agreements.

"Now, my lady, we have begun the process of establishing the Mining Colonies around the capital. It helps that oxygen is the most abundant element on the Moon even though there is no air on the Moon. This is because it bonds to so many things. Since oxygen-bonded minerals are lightweight, they float up to form the crust of a planet or moon. The minerals that don't bond well and are shiny as a result sink to the bottom," Regent Cernan began as he read from his friend Harrison Schmitt's report as head of the Lunarian Alliance Minerals Management Service.

Princess Mercury raised her hand in a question and Regent Cernan nodded to her to speak.

"Regent, exactly what resources are we looking at?"

"For the moon, our analysis of the rocks we brought back and from our further surveys show the Moon is rich in aluminum which is found in anorthite ore which is twenty percent aluminum. Calcium and silicon would be a by product of the refining process and would be a vital industrial material for a variety of applications. Titanium is another big money maker, both my landing site and Neil's have a high concentration of titanium in ilemnite ore which is fifty three percent titanium. Mining ilemnite will also enable us to set up Solar Wind farms to capture hydrogen. Finally iron which is easy to extract from the surface." Cernan answered.

Cernan continued on for an additional five hours, detailing minerals and resources throughout their realms, the contractors who came forward with bids and for Princess Saturn he held out several manila folders.

"What are these?" Princess Saturn asked.

"Most are business proposals from OPEC countries wanting in on developing hydrocarbon rich Titan, the others are marriage proposals from the Saudi, Jordanian, UAE, Brunei, and Bahrain's Royal Families. If you ask me, they're desperate because once you can begin exporting all that hydrocarbon, those nations will have a hard time keeping their populations in line and will likely collapse." Cernan explained to a shocked Saturn and her father.

…...

Sailor Mercury met Urawa Ryo at Shizenkyoikuen Park. Despite the Governments talk about the agony of having drafted 15 and 16 year olds, they had yet to discharge the 15 and 16 year olds from service. Part of the reason was because many were orphans with no other family and it was felt that employing them in the clean up where they earned money and gained education from the military was a much better solution than putting them in an orphanage which they would have left anyway to seek private sector employment.

Urawa was one of those 16 year olds being six months older than Ami. As he approached in the relatively intact park, Ami noted Urawa had been promoted to corporal as she waved him over to where her 15th birthday party was being celebrated.

Spotting her,Urawa, who was wearing his Service Uniform with his ribbons and badges consisting of the Home Defense Medal, Wound Badge, and Combat Action Badge, smiled and shifted the package he was carrying. Coming up, he kissed Ami on the cheek, "Happy birthday Ami."

Sailor Mercury hugged Urawa. "Good to see you could make it."

"Hey the ice cream is going to melt Ami, so bring your boyfriend over already," Serenity teased from the picnic area where the ice cream was safely in the cooler that Pluto had Master Meyer lug along as he delivered his reports. Master Meyer was wearing his new white service uniform recently finished for the Silver Guards. Unlike his Marine Uniform it was plain with nothing but rank, which was indicated on his collar tabs by a Crescent Moon framed by two red roses on either side of the Crescent Moon, his four badges, combat action ribbon, and a Purple Heart ribbon with one gold star above his right breast pocket. As usual, he left off his Medal of Honor which he still lobbied Congress without success to have revoked and his attendance medals as he called them.

Blushing, Sailor Mercury allowed Urawa to escort her to the others.

With everyone present, the celebration began with dinner which consisted of Pizza and everyone catching up on the latest news of the rebuilding effort from Urawa, the conditions of the space colonies from the Senshi, and the return of limited shopping opportunities currently by the ladies. Most of the shops being operated by Youma who took Government zero percent interest business loans to set up shops.

"Oh before I forget, I got two weeks leave starting tomorrow Ami and I have always wanted to visit the other planets," Urawa spoke up later after they had gone through cake, ice cream, and opening of gifts.

"It would be a pleasure to have you at Mariner Castle Urawa," Mercury spoke up.

At that Mrs. Mizuno leaned over and whispered into her daughter's ear, causing her to blush furiously and exclaim, "Mom!" causing everyone to laugh and Serenity to engage in good nature teasing of Ami.

All in all it was further proof that the scars of the war were healing fast.

…...

General of the Army David Hackworth smiled at the Defense Reorganization Bill that was just passed by Congress in a last ditch effort to stave off the reckoning coming from the American People who lost 153,000 sons and daughters to the Negaverse. It called for a complete overhaul of the American military within a ten year period.

One, it disbanded the Marine Corps and absorbed them into the Army.

Two, it created the Space Force by merging the USN, ANG, and USAF plus their reserves into one.

To accomplish this goal, the bill ordered all the surface ships and half the submarine force to be decommissioned or transferred to the Coast Guard. The Battleships and the 22 Cruisers mounting the 8" guns would be kept in the in-active reserve along with the Amphibious Warfare Ships till enough space ships and stations were available to provide force projection.

The soon to be defunct USAF and ANG was ordered to begin scrapping any bird older than 15 years and start closing down the missile silos. The contracted production run of 500 F-22s was honored as the money was already paid, but would end up being sold to other nations or scrapped as the factories tooled up to make advanced shuttles and low orbit capable atmospheric fighters provided to them in the Crystal Tokyo Charter.

Third, the Military Logistics Command was formed by combining all the Services' transports, medical, JAGs, MPs, CIDs, Intelligence, Mechanics, sealift, airlift, and most of its engineers into a single unified group that provided logistics to support the Army and Space Force to avoid wasted duplications.

Uniforms were also standardized, with naval ranks and most naval terminology to be phased out, with each service having the same battle dress uniforms (BDUs), the same service uniform, and the same awards for the most part with as little variation as possible. Service Branchs would be identified by shoulder patches on service uniforms while the new BDUs were digitized and one could check branch and other information by querying the id of a person.

Finally it banned women from the military unless they agreed to sterilization and met the same physical standards of men and agreed to share barracks space with men.

One of Hackworth's staff had even compared the arrangement to Games Workshop's Imperium of Mankind military organization minus the Space Marines. But whatever, Hackworth was just glad the American people were finally waking up and holding its military and government accountable and the reforms that he, Hackworth, had been pushing for so long were finally going through. It sadden Hackworth though, that so many died because of systematic fuckups stretching back to the end of WW2 that he could not clean up in time before the Negaverse launched its main offensive.

Being honest with himself, Hackworth knew he had made some blunders himself. He should have pushed harder to get the 82nd Division more effective vehicles than the old M113 and its many variants and he should have been more forceful in pushing the Javelin into the field before the fighting. Finally he should have been a hell of a lot more skeptical about the USAF's claims to the efficiency of UAVs and pushed for a training test.

The only consolation America's Families had was that all the Perfumed Princes had been purged out of the service or died in the war and wouldn't be coming back.

…...

Walking into the Briefing Room, Meyer looked over the 740 Officers that made up the 14,800 strong Silver Guard. Also present was King Endymion, Neo Queen Serenity, and the Planetary Princesses in their Robes of State along with Corporal Urawa as Observers.

Heading to a lectern, Meyer took a moment to survey his Officers, a third of whom were from his former command of the 20th Marines and who held the Line Officers slots. Meyer's XO Grand Sky Marshal Otomi Tokugawa, who second hatted as leader of all flight operations, was behind him.

Grand Champion Franklin Hammerstedt stood to the side chest full of ribbons for valor, wounds, and sporting a Medal of Honor around his neck awarded to all those who accepted resurrection which was considered above and beyond the call of duty. Grand Champion Hammerstedt also wore at his side a Lunarian Blade gifted from Neo Queen Serenity and held the Silver Guards' Banner given to Meyer by King Endymion.

The Banner had two knights in gothic armor holding crossed polearms. Between them was a Crescent Moon flanked by red rose vines which symbolized Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion.

Tapping the mike, Master Meyer began. "Greetings gentlemen. As officers of the Lunarian Alliance we hold the special trust and confidence of the Crystal Court composed of the Planetary Princesses and the Sovereigns Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion. Because of that, a few rules.

One. All officers are ineligible for Valor Awards. Your job is command and coordinating logistics, not seeking glory. That is what sergeants and champions are for. Only in moments of uncertainty and despair do you go on the line and lead personally in order to rally your men. That is expected and thus not worthy of an award. Any Sergeants who become commissioned must forfeit their Valor Awards or forgo commissioning to become champions if they find a sponsor from either the Planetary Princesses or Neo Queen Serenity.

Two. No excusing civilian causalities. While it can not always be avoided, do not cheapen the situation by calling it collateral damage and accept full responsibility for it and search for ways to avoid causing civilian causalities in the the future. Also investigate fully any accusations of war crimes by your men and any incidents where civilians were killed. Failure to do so will result in your arrest and ultimately dismissal from the Silver Guards. Death is not cheap, despite many of us becoming functionally immortal with some of us even being resurrected.

Three. Don't ask, don't disrupt. A person's personal life is their own so long as it does not disrupt your unit. If it is causing disruptions first try a transfer, if that does not improve the situation, cut the person loose after an outside investigator finds all procedures were followed properly and all possible remedies exhausted. The effectiveness and cohesion of a unit are vital and anyone disrupting that must be dealt with swiftly.

Four. Graduate Management Admission Test is required for further promotions and must be retaken every four years. No exceptions.

Five. Win the war, not battles, and see to the welfare of your men.

That out of the way, an explanation of what we are and what we aren't.

We are a surgical outfit designed to swiftly crush an emerging threat before it get so large that a full scale war breaks out. We are not the Army, and we will not fight attrition wars. We are not police officers and if we are called upon it is because the Police can not handle the job and we are the final option before the Army must go in to rectify the situation with maximum violence as was seen in the recently ended war.

We are not Space Marines. We are the Silver Guards. While many of us are from the U.S. Marine Corps, many of us are also from the Imperial Japanese Army Aviation. In order for this organization to work, all past ties must be broken and a new meld of traditions and rituals be created. We have taken the first step by signing away our citizenships and swearing total allegiance to the Crystal Court. It is time you learn why.

There is a force in this universe known as Chaos. It is the manifestation of everything taken to extremes beyond all rational limits. It has been waging war on all living things since the dawn of creation and will not stop until all life is under its sway or exterminated. The only protection is to be sealed off from Chaos so to speak, though Neo Queen Serenity uses the term purified. In any event those already exposed to the power of the Ginzuishou are fine. Those who have not, must allow themselves to be so or leave the Silver Guards. I wish to emphasize that this does not change who you are, it merely closes off any opening for Chaos to take over you unwillingly and makes you immortal.

In any event, we will ultimately be the first line of defense against Chaos Cults that grow too large for the Police Forces to handle as well, this is our second and most critical mission and will determine whether or not Humanity can continue to exist. The last thing we want is for Chaos to gain such a foothold that the Army and Space Force must step in because that means Humanity will be on the brink of extinction."

…...

Usagi was visiting the cleanup and construction crews throughout the Tokyo Bay area. The military crews for the most part were greeting her enthusiastically while the Youma crews were a little wary but polite.

After a while Serenity and her newly recruited and trained Palace Guards came to Hikawa Shrine. Rei, Yuichiro, Grandpa Hino was already waiting at the top of the stairs as she came up to the fully rebuilt shrine. Usagi smiled when she recognized the permanently on display symbol of Mars on Rei's head just as her symbol remained prominent on her forehead.

"Ah Usagi-chan, it is good to have you come to the shrine. There has been little laughter heard here as of late." Grandpa Hino greeted Usagi as he took her offered hand and patted it affectionately.

Kneeling down Usagi hugged the old Shrine Priest, "It will return again, hold onto that dream Grandpa Hino and never let it go."

"I shall Usagi-chan, if you'll agree to a game of Hanetsuki," Grandpa Hino replied.

Giggling out loud, Usagi replied, "You and Me vs Rei and Yuchiro."

"Wait, I," Rei started to protest.

"Its agreed," Grandpa Hino cut her off as he handed her, Usagi, and Yuchiro a hagoita before pulling out his and a hane.

With everyone else caught up in the spirit of the game, Rei relented and smiled as as her Grandpa kicked off the game by hitting the hane towards her.

…...

King Endymion watched the monitors from the control room in the Moon Palace as Earth Chapter of the Silver Guards swept in on its target for Operation Justice. Sixteen hundred strong, the Chapter was made of five companies of 210 men consisting of the Ground element of 100 men led by a Ground Captain with his four man command staff and an air component of 100 men piloting the company's aircraft commanded by a Sky Captain and his four man command element in a command bird. The Ground Captain was in overall control while the Sky Captain was XO. The chapter also had a 550 man support and HQ company with the Chapter Marshal, Eric Jordan, and the Chapter Champion, Fredrick Jaeger.

As Endymion watched the Monitors, the First Company led by Ground Captain Killjoy stormed the main Al-Qaeda compound in Sudan. Increasing threats from this organization against his love had led to Endymion ordering the Operation to go forward with the support of the Regency Council. Other monitors showed the other companies hitting other base camps used by Al-Qaeda.

But the main compound where Al-Qaeda's leaders were drew all of Endymion's attention. Due to the high number of children and women present at these places and their low level of protection against chemical agents, Youma Agents had infiltrated ahead of the assaults and unleashed incapacitating agents throughout the compounds. The result was a total cake walk at each base.

"We got Osama," Captain Killjoy spoke over the comms as his Company secured its objective. The others also announced success.

Cheering erupted in the control room.

"Quiet down folks, we still have to extract the teams but good work." Endymion spoke over the din.

The personnel in the control room immediately did so, but grins remained on their faces as the transports were loaded for the trip back to the _Hurricane_. There the Al-Qaeda leadership would be quietly tried, convicted, and executed as there was no doubt as to their guilt as they had already admitted it publicly. The civilians in the compounds and the rank and file would wake up in the night with their leadership gone and all their weapons and vehicles burnt beyond usefulness in a giant pile.

Due to the sensitivity of this mission, King Endymion would not breathe a word of this to Serenity. It was best she remain above and beyond any taint from these missions should they ever be known. But if played right, Endymion could guarantee that religious fanatics who posed a threat to Serenity's safety would be cowered into mute protests rather than openly calling for and planning her death by his swift, silent, and untraceable missions that removed those clearly guilty and frightened those sitting on the fence to find something more productive to do.

If properly handled over the next few years, the Black Moon Clan would never come to be, and his future daughter could grow up never knowing war as a child or having to step over bodies on her way to the Space Time Door in another reality. That alone made these missions worth it.

…...

Ami traced the wound scar across the napping Urawa's bare chest in Sundome 3 which was a miniature beach open to the Sun attached to her Castle. Currently it was lightly occupied with her mother nearby and a scattering of others swimming or sun bathing.

It concerned Ami that Urawa didn't want to further elaborate about the Battle of Kanazawa where he got that wound. By all accounts, the battle had been an utter bloodbath with 280,000 IJA Soldiers entering it, being encircled and forced into the sewers where they fought non-stop for a week to keep it, with only 600 men leaving the sewers alive after the ceasefire, and it showed in the haunted look she had seen in Urawa's eyes when he mentioned the place briefly before changing the subject when she pressed him about it.

As if sensing her own fears and nightmares, Urawa's hand gently grasped Ami's hand and brought it to his mouth where he kissed it. "We're alive Ami, that is all that matters in the end. Let the past go and think instead of our future daughters," Urawa spoke as he opened his eyes and scooped Ami onto his side so her head laid on his left shoulder.

Shocked and blushing, Ami gave no resistance as Urawa positioned her and kissed her forehead where the Alchemical Symbol of Mercury was now permanently on display. "Urawa, I can't help but feel guilty for not..."

Ami stopped as Urawa shushed her with his free hand. "Ami, you did all you could. The disasters of the war were not your fault. Mistakes were made on so many levels by all involved that no action taken by you or the Senshi could have seriously altered the outcome. The Negaverse threw away their mook chivalry, stopped seeking out their opposite numbers, their officers commanded and coordinated their attacks, ceased their speeches, and they fought as cohesive units reducing the fight to pure logistics and firepower which you and the Senshi lack I might add."

Ami looked at Urawa in shock silence for a moment before conceding defeat, "You're right, you must think me foolish."

"No never that Ami," Urawa assured her.

Shifting herself slightly so she was more comfortable, Ami relaxed her head on Urawa's shoulder and allowed Urawa's heartbeat and the lapping waves to lull her asleep.

…...

Princess Jupiter watched as First Sergeant Tomoyuki Hoshi, came forth to accept his Sword as Castellan of the Jupiter Palace Guards.

The young ex-First Sergeant of the IJA was festooned with ribbons and badges on his green service uniform with the Castellan insignia of the Alchemical Symbol of Jupiter flanked by Oak Leaves and lighting bolts on shoulder pauldrons and collar tabs. Imperial Japanese Army issued awards were the Combat Action Badge, Wound Badge, the Order of the Golden Kite 4th Class, Order of the Rising Sun 3rd Class, Home Defense Medal, and IJA Commendation Medal. American awards were the Silver Star with one silver oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star with V device and two bronze oak leaf clusters, and a Distinguished Service Cross.

With the Jupiter Anthem being played, Tomoyuki knelt with head bowed before the dais of Jupiter's Throne. Standing up, Princess Jupiter walked towards the Castellan. "Hoshi Tomoyuki, tales of your valor, initiative, and leadership precede you. There is no one in Japan or the U.S. that has not heard tales of your mighty feats on the battlefield. It is with honor that I choose thee as Castellan of Io Castle," Princess Jupiter intoned as she offered her left hand with her signit ring to Tomoyuki.

Gently taking Jupiter's hand, Tomoyuki kissed the signit ring. "I am unworthy of the honor, but shall serve with courage and honor." Tomoyuki intoned as the next part of the ceremony.

Jupiter Chapter Marshal Kevin Bates stepped forth with a Jovian Blade and handed it to Princess Jupiter to symbolize the change of guard for the Castle. Taking the sword, Jupiter turned to Tomoyuki and held out blade to Tomoyuki's upward lifted hands. "Accept this blade and rise Castellan of Io Castle, long may you serve the Jovian Realm."

Rising up, Tomoyuki sheathed the blade and turned to face the Palace Guard in the Audience Hall who clapped at his new command.

Appearing at her new Castellan's side, Princess Jupiter threw decorum aside, to Guardian Jupiter's scandalized shock, and shouted out, "Now lets party boys!"

Jupiter was answered with raucous cheers. Grabbing a surprised Tomoyuki, Jupiter dragged him out to the cleared Banquet Hall. She had plans for him, let Guardian Jupiter be scandalized, this night was the beginning of her keeping Tomoyuki by her side forever...

…...

It was late when King Endymion entered the living quarters of the Moon Palace having dealt with the unpleasant wrap up of the mission. As he approached Usagi's room on his way to his own chambers, the door opened and Usagi stepped out in her nightgown with her hair undone and arms folded. "Lord Endymion, mind explaining why I am locked out of the Vermillion Files you and the Regency Council recently set up?"

Endymion stood flabbergasted at Usagi's revelation, of finding the files used for his Night and Fog missions, as Usagi tapped her foot.

"Well Endymion?"

"Usagi, I never knew you had such an interest in Oil Processing to find those files."

Usagi's eyes narrowed, "Lord Endymion, I have access to all the weapons files and economic files, so whatever is in Vermillion can not be either of those. Lord Endymion, you aren't hiding or sharing porn in those files are you?" Usagi turned away with tears in her eyes and bit the neckline of her night gown while Endymion sweatdropped in shocked relief.

"No, they are protected processes that if widely known, can be used to create narcotics for non-medical purposes."

Usagi glomped Endymion at that, "Oh how could I ever doubt you or the Regency Council, I happen to know the way to make it up to you," Usagi spoke with a mischievous smile.

"And hopefully that is a few years in the future," Kenji Tsukino spoke up beside the two Royals surprising both of them.

"Daddy, I,"

"Was just going to bed, off with you." Kenji cut off his daughter before turning to Endymion, "And you as well. Its midnight."

"Oh, uh sorry to awaken you Kenji, goodnight Usagi," Endymion replied as he kissed her forehead before reluctantly releasing Usagi and heading off to his room.

Behind him, Endymion heard Usagi's door shut and Kenji and Ikkuko's door shut.

…...

Sailor Mars observed the newly created Royal Mars Agriculture and Forestry Ministry going about the business of planting algae, lichens, and vials of microbial bacteria. At the polar ice caps, others were planting moss and pine trees. At the ancient portal to Titan a continuous pipeline was being constructed to import methane with which to get a greenhouse gas effect going.

From the Io Shipyards, the _RJSS Victory _and_ RJSS Jovian Fury_ would stop by the Asteroid Ceres and Vesta and deploy engines to push them into Mars orbit to increase tidal forces on the planet. They would also begin the process of deploying orbital mirrors to increase the warming of the planet. After which they would head to Mercury and Venus respectively with a stop over at Earth to deliver Military Equipment to the U.S. Army and Imperial Japanese Army. Mars own assigned ship, the _RJSS Forge Fire_, wouldn't finish its trials and crew training for another four weeks.

Activating her visor, Sailor Mars read the situation reports across the visor as she walked up to where Yuichiro was putting up a small shrine to Inari and Hachiman at her request. Like everyone else he was wearing a full environmental suite in the Martian Atmosphere as he worked unlike Mars whose Guardian Deity of Mars protected her from the elements.

Sailor Mars feelings towards Yuichiro were rather mixed. Despite working for her grandpa for nearly a year, Rei hardly knew him, but by all accounts he had been instrumental in keeping the Shrine going and taking care of grandpa and always maintained a professional demeanor in taking his training seriously, the reason why her Grandfather had ordained him after he passed the exam. It was a far cry from when she had first met him. The war had in many ways changed him and her for that matter.

"Hello Yuichiro," Sailor Mars greeted the young priest.

Turning around, Yuichiro lifted the sun visor from his helmet, "Good afternoon Sailor Mars, I should be done with this shrine in another two hours and begin consecration tomorrow."

"Thank you, but that is not why I'm here. I have to ask you a question and I want an honest answer."

"Okay, I can do that."

"Don't you at times wish you had never seen me, even if it had meant dying?"

"No, uh what would, I mean what kind of question is that?" A flabbergasted Yuichiro asked.

Rei smiled, but didn't say anything further as she left to finish her inspections.

…...

King Endymion sat next to Neo Queen Serenity as the Regency Council met. Also present but standing were Master Meyer in service uniform and Provost Marshal of the Palace Guards Otomi Yakashima in his flamboyant ceremonial armor festooned with ribbons and awards. In addition the Planetary Princesses, their Castellans standing behind them, and Luna and Artemis were present with President Bill Clinton, General of the Air Force Horner, Prime Minister Hino, and General Nishi appearing by hologram.

Artemis was finishing the briefing on the budget, "Totaled up, we have three hundred sixty-five trillion four hundred seven billion twenty million seventy thousand fifty six dollars in reserves, taxes, tribute, and royalties for the Lunarian Alliance Treasury accounted for from the Silver Millennium so far. We are projecting five trillion dollars in taxes, royalties, and tribute for this year."

Luna took over from Artemis, "For spending, we are using five hundred million dollars a day to pay for the Fleet, the Silver Guards and the Palace Guards. seven hundred million dollars is spent each day on construction projects across the Solar System. Three hundred million dollars each day goes for Healthcare and Education. So we are running a massive surplus with which to use."

"Whoa, it never ceases to amaze me just how much wealth we still have hidden and yet to be accounted for," Neo Queen Serenity spoke up as she skimmed the ledgers using her goggles along with the Princesses.

"Your Majesty, your Mother Queen Serenity ruled a vast technologically advanced civilization of nearly five trillion subjects scattered across the Solar System which traded with much of the Galaxy till the Sailor Wars cut the Solar System off from the rest of the Galaxy and we were forced to shut down our portals to protect the Solar System. The queen saved most of the money gained from the trades as a pool to draw upon should a rapid expansion of the Fleet be needed." Luna lectured as she pulled up the next item on the agenda which was the Fleet.

"Speaking of the Fleet, your Majesties, its these Sailor Wars that concern me. According to the information you gave us, 20,000 years ago these Sailor Wars broke out and you dismantled the nine hundred jump gates your fleet used to visit other worlds and cut off all communication as Galaxia plunged the Galaxy into Warfare. However, there has been no indication that these wars stopped and charged with Space Defense I like to know what the threat is." General Horner spoke up.

Princess Saturn answered him, "The jump gates remain on Saturn ready to be retrieved and I, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto retain the keys to activate them. If her majesty wishes it, we can reactivate the portals and check on some worlds to see if the wars are over as well as reestablish ties."

"Generals?" Serenity asked.

General Nishi nodded to General Horner who answered, "It worth investigating now that the Empire Class Star Dreadnought _RJSS Thunderstorm _is combat ready under Brigadier General Gregory Dole we can risk a fact finding expedition if my Government and General Nishi's approves."

"Well you won't have any objections from me, Queen Serenity and King Endymion, the last thing we need is a genocidal psychopath running amok and heading our way," President Clinton spoke up.

"I concur your Majesties, and reestablishing trade ties with these ancient Kingdoms will help to stabilize and expand the world economy which is still reeling from the war." Prime Minister Hino added.

"Then it is settled then, Master Meyer have a Silver Guard Chapter ready to go," King Endymion spoke.

"I'll take the Pluto Chapter your Majesty along with my command squad. You'll need a direct representative who has your full trust and confidence so I must go." Master Meyer answered.

"Very well Master Meyer, err, Princess Pluto you have an objection?" King Endymion asked as Princess Pluto stood up.

"King Endymion, Queen Serenity, for reasons I can not explain, I must go with the expedition."

"Very well Princess Pluto, though I must say I think I know the reason," Queen Serenity answered.

"Ahem, if this is settled then, we still have several more items to go over your Majesties with regard to the Fleet." Luna interrupted.

…...

Sailor Pluto waited for her relief in the Space-Time Door, while she could warn them about the dangers of activating the gate, she knew that it was necessary for the future that what was to come would come.

Still, the order to accompany the expedition had surprised her, Future Neo Queen Serenity had not even told Pluto the reason why she was to go.

"It is time."

Sailor Pluto whirled around to find her future self behind her.

Eternal Sailor Pluto smiled at her younger self, "Soon this door will be completely sealed off and the revolution will begin that will see Humanity inherit the stars. As the Senshi of Time and Revolution you must eventually learn to lead once again as I have. Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion can not win the war against Chaos alone. By leading the way, the Planetary Princesses can once more be the leading Politicians and Generals of their day."

…...

"Admit it, you planned this from day one."

"You know, I admit nothing, however, what I do, I do so Humanity can survive across the Universes and win the great struggle against the Ancient Enemy."


End file.
